Game modification

ABSTRACT

Familiar games are enhanced by modification equipment and/or rule changes which add strategic possibilities, player interactions, and twists not found in original game rules. Games suitable for pairing with modification equipment include board games, card games, dice games, tile games, and parlor games, for example. Game modification instructions function to alter one or more of: hand size, discards, draws, seating, turn count, turn order, rounds, scores, winning conditions, item ownership, item visibility, item possession, team membership, equipment in play, action targets, and other categories. Multiple games may be yoked together. Instructions modifying play may be followed at specified times, even after an original game ends, to determine an ultimate winner. Instructions may be embodied in cards, spinners, and/or software. Modification instructions may apply to all turn-based games, or to games in a particular category, or to a particular branded familiar game, for example.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

To the extent permitted by applicable law, this application incorporatesby reference and claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applications61/981,792 filed 19 Apr. 2014, 61/982,786 filed 22 Apr. 2014, 61/984,834filed 27 Apr. 2014, 61/991,650 filed 12 May 2014, 61/994,396 filed 16May 2014, 62/002,969 filed 26 May 2014, 62/006,913 filed 3 Jun. 2014,and 62/012,566 filed 16 Jun. 2014.

COPYRIGHT AUTHORIZATION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

Games are more than merely fun. Games are perhaps the earliest examplesof human technology, and one of the most widely used. Games help usunderstand rules, and they provide us with practice formulatingstrategies for predicting and responding to situations that are shapedby chance and by the actions of other people. The rules of a particulargame specify how that game is played, just as the rules of physics,chemistry, and other sciences specify how existence plays out. Theequipment of a given game includes physical real-world things used toplay the game. More recently, game equipment includes digitalrepresentations of physical real-world things, or virtual world items,which are used to play the game. Software games include earlysimulations of physical phenomena.

Game technology has a long, complex, and well-documented history. Inparticular, games are clearly patentable subject matter. To give justone of many possible examples, in 1935 the inventor C. B. Darrow wasgranted U.S. Pat. No. 2,026,082 titled “Board Game Apparatus”. FIG. 1 ofthe '082 patent shows a game board labeled “MONOPOLY” with indiciaincluding “GO”, “IN JAIL/JUST VISITING”, “FREE PARKING”, “GO TO JAIL”,and others. Other figures of the '082 patent show player tokens, Houses,Hotels, dice, Real Estate Title cards, Chance cards, Community Chestcards, and play money. The text of the '082 patent discusses rules of agame which uses apparatus shown in the figures. The '082 patent has longsince expired, but the teachings it provided live on in Monopoly® gamesthat have been played and enjoyed by millions of people (Monopoly® is amark of Hasbro, Inc.).

SUMMARY

Sometimes a game becomes less interesting and less enjoyable to a playeras it becomes more familiar to that player. Sometimes one player in agame has an extreme advantage over another player in the game becausethe one player is much more familiar with the game than the otherplayer. Sometimes one player enjoys complex game play much more thananother player. In these situations, and others, the prospect of gameplay may create or intensify social frictions instead of providing fun,camaraderie, and a sense of accomplishment.

However, game modification apparatus and processes disclosed herein canhelp make familiar games more interesting, help level the playing field,introduce additional opportunities for strategy formulation andimplementation during games, increase social interaction during gameplay, and otherwise provide fun, camaraderie, and a sense ofaccomplishment.

Some of the innovative examples described in this disclosure includecards, spinners, software, and/or other game modification equipmentwhose use modifies how a variety of preexisting games are played bymodifying aspects of play which are shared by various games. That is,the same game modification equipment enhances multiple familiar games(played individually or concurrently). This is a conceptual leap beyonda single game which merely modifies its own rules. The preexisting gameswhich are being modified are also referred to herein as original games,or familiar games. Examples of such original games include checkers,chess, Chinese checkers game, rummy, and the Monopoly® game (mark ofHasbro, Inc.), among many others. Original games include board games,playing card games, collectible card games, tile games, dice games,parlor games, turn-based strategy games, and/or turn-based games ofluck.

Each original game is each playable in an unmodified form withrespective original game equipment, e.g., chess pieces and a chess boardfor chess, marbles and a Chinese checkers board for Chinese checkers,and so on. The innovative game modification equipment described hereinsupplements the original game equipment and enhances functionality toprovide a modified game play experience, e.g., by adding one or moregame play mechanisms which are not present in the unmodified form of theoriginal game. Game play mechanisms can be implemented as gamemodification instructions which players follow while playing theenhanced game. Game modification instructions may also be referred to asgame enhancement instructions, game change instructions, game expansioninstructions, game changer rules, game expansion, game pairings, or thelike.

In some examples, the game modification equipment embodies gamemodification instructions in one or more of the following gamemodification instruction categories: Item Ownership, Full Swap,Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, Turn Order, WinningCondition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size,Scored Turns, In/Out of Play, Merge Team, Seating, 3+ Teams, Yoked Game,or Sayings Card instructions. However, game modification instructionstaught herein are not limited to those within the foregoing categories.

In some examples, the game modification equipment embodies gamemodification instructions which are collectively characterized by timesegments indicating when a respective game modification instruction canbe followed, or must be followed, e.g., during the turn in which it ispulled by a player, during a later turn, or anytime during play.

In some examples, one or more game modification instructions arespecific to a kind of game (e.g., board game vs. collectible card game).Some game modification instructions are specific to a particular game,such as a Monopoly® game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.). However, specificity ofa game instruction to a branded original game does not imply anysponsorship, affiliation, or other business relationship between theoriginal game's brand owner and the present inventors or their licenseesor representatives.

From the players' perspective, some examples of modified game playinclude setting up original game equipment of an original game. Theoriginal game equipment has functionality according to original gamerules. Original game equipment for branded games is typically sold as aunit, often in a box bearing the brand and other information such as thenumber of players, players' typical age range, and approximate durationof one instance of playing the original game. However, many familiaroriginal games such as chess and checkers are sold without game-specificbrands, in that their game equipment is manufactured and sold bymultiple parties.

Modified game play may also include preparing a game modificationapparatus, e.g., shuffling a deck of game modification cards, launchinggame modification software, or giving a game modification spinner a testspin.

With the original game equipment and the game modification apparatusready, play can begin. A current player pulls a game modificationinstruction from the game modification apparatus, e.g., by pulling atleast one game modification card from a draw pile or from the player'sown hand. Functionality of the original game equipment is modified byfollowing the game modification instruction. This may involve the playerwho pulled the game modification instruction going on to take their turnin the original game, or they may be instructed to take an extra turn,or skip their turn, or to let another player take their turn instead oftaking it themselves. Many other actions and conditions also occur inthe game modification instructions, in a variety of the gamemodification instruction categories, sometimes with time segmentsattached as conditions; these described further in the text and drawingsof this disclosure.

After the game modification instruction is followed, players determinewhich player then becomes the current player. Often this will be theperson or team that would have been next in the original unmodifiedgame. But game modification may also change the turn order, change theplayer's seating positions, and/or change a player's team membership,each of which can influence who takes the next turn.

Modified play continues in this manner, with the now-current playerpulling a game modification instruction, the players modifyingfunctionality of the original game equipment by following the gamemodification instruction, and the players determining which player thenbecomes the current player, and so on. The examples given in thisdisclosure are merely illustrative. They are not intended to fullyidentify key features or essential features of the claimed subjectmatter, nor are they intended to be used to limit the scope of theclaimed subject matter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description will be given with reference to theattached drawings. These drawings only illustrate selected aspects andthus do not fully determine coverage or scope.

FIG. 1 is block diagram illustrating original game equipment in general;

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating game equipment for modified play(also called enhanced play or expanded play), which includes originalgame equipment in functional combination with game modificationequipment;

FIG. 3 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game is checkers,and the equipment for modified play includes checkers original gameequipment in functional combination with game modification equipment;

FIG. 4 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game is a Yahtzee®game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), and the equipment for modified playincludes Yahtzee® original game equipment in functional combination withgame modification equipment (which may include the same gamemodification equipment as in FIG. 3 and/or include other gamemodification equipment, e.g., different game modification cards);

FIG. 5 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game is a Monopoly®game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), and the equipment for modified playincludes Monopoly® original game equipment in functional combinationwith game modification equipment (which may include the same gamemodification equipment as in FIG. 3 or 4 and/or include other gamemodification equipment, e.g., different game modification cards);

FIG. 6 is block diagram further illustrating the game modificationequipment of any or all of FIGS. 2 through 5, including the particularexamples of a (a) deck of game modification cards, (b) a gamemodification spinner, (c) standalone game modification software, alsocalled a “mod widget” herein, and (d) game modification softwareintegrated into software for a particular game (also called “modware”herein) such as a word-building tile game, chess, checkers, or anothergame implemented in software with innovative game mechanisms integratedinto game play based on the teachings herein;

FIG. 7 is simplified perspective view illustrating a deck of gamemodification cards (also called a “game expansion deck”, “game enhancerdeck”, or the like);

FIG. 8 is diagram illustrating a back side and a front side (also calleda rear and a face, respectively) of a single card of a deck of gamemodification cards according to FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system having at leastone processor and at least one memory which interact with one anotherunder the control of software for enhanced (expanded) game play, andother items in an operating environment which may be present on multiplenetwork nodes, and also illustrating configured storage medium (asopposed to mere signal per se, in the United States) embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of conventional game playin the absence of game modification;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating aspects of modified (i.e.,enhanced, expanded) game play in some circumstances according to gamemodification teachings provided herein;

FIGS. 12 through 16 each provide a flow chart illustrating aspects ofmodified play according to FIG. 11 of a particular original (i.e.,unmodified, familiar, conventional) game, including the two-player boardgame checkers, the dice game Yahtzee® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), the boardgame Monopoly® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.) which uses various kinds ofequipment, the deck-building card game Dominion® (mark of Rio GrandeGames, Inc.), and the tile-laying game Carcassonne® (mark of Hans imGluck Verlags-GmbH);

FIGS. 17 through 19 collectively provide a flow chart furtherillustrating steps of some process and configured storage mediumexamples (a.k.a. embodiments); and

FIG. 20 is a block diagram illustrating categories of game mechanisms,which correspond with their respective implementing game modificationinstructions and with cards bearing those instructions; a givenembodiments uses one or more of the illustrated categories.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview of Examples

Some of the innovative examples described in this disclosure includecards, spinners, software, and/or other game modification equipmentwhose use modifies how a variety of preexisting games are played bymodifying aspects of play which are shared by various games. That is,the same game modification equipment enhances multiple familiar games.The preexisting games which are being modified are also referred toherein as original games, or familiar games.

Each original game is each playable in an unmodified form withrespective original game equipment, e.g., chess pieces and a chess boardfor chess, marbles and a Chinese checkers board for Chinese checkers,and so on. The innovative game modification equipment described hereinsupplements the original game equipment and expands equipmentfunctionality to provide an expanded game play experience, e.g., byadding mechanisms which are not present in the unmodified original game.From a player's perspective, the experience goes from something like theconventional process illustrated in FIG. 10 to a modified process likethose shown in FIGS. 11 through 16. Game modification adds strategicpossibilities, player interactions, and unusual twists, for example,thereby enhancing game play.

Some Comments on Interpretation of Examples

Some examples described herein may be viewed in a broader context. Forinstance, concepts such as chance, players, skill, turns, and winningmay be relevant to a particular example. However, it does not followfrom the availability of a broad context that exclusive rights are beingsought herein for abstract ideas; they are not. Rather, the presentdisclosure is focused on providing appropriately specific examples whosetechnical effects fully or partially solve particular technicalproblems. Other media, systems, and methods involving chance, players,skill, turns, and/or winning are outside the present scope. Accordingly,vagueness, mere abstractness, lack of technical character, andaccompanying proof problems are also avoided under a properunderstanding of the present disclosure.

The technical character of examples described herein will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art, and will also be apparent in severalways to a wide range of attentive readers. First, some examples addresstechnical problems such as identifying and influencing aspects shared bycard games, board games, and in some instances other games whileretaining familiar and game-specific aspects of such games. Familiargames differ from one another is many ways, and the present disclosurenot only recognizes the existence of underlying similarities, it alsosets forth examples of such similarities and ways to utilize thesimilarities to provide game expansion mechanisms which apply fruitfullyto a variety of familiar games. Second, some examples include technicalcomponents such as computing hardware which interacts with software in amanner beyond the typical interactions within a general purposecomputer. For example, in addition to normal interaction such as memoryallocation in general, memory reads and write in general, instructionexecution in general, and some sort of I/O, some examples describedherein alter the normal and expected play of original games according torules and mechanisms described herein. Third, technical effects providedby some examples inject changes in fortune into the play of an originalgame, e.g., by changing who is ahead and/or what play options areavailable to a given player, and do so in a metagame manner that is notpart of the original game. Fourth, some examples include technicaladaptations such as Do It™ cards, Bend A Game™ cards, Bejinx™ cards,and/or other game modification tools. Fifth, some examples modifytechnical functionality of an original game by modifying the rules fortaking turns, the ownership of game pieces, isolation of games (mostfamiliar games are played one game at a time), and a variety of othercircumstances based on technical considerations dictated by Do It™ cardcontent, Bend A Game™ card or spinner content, Bejinx™ card or spinnercontent, or other game modification instruction content.

Any step stated herein is potentially part of a process example. In agiven example zero or more stated steps of a process may be repeated,perhaps with different parameters or data to operate on. Steps in anexample may also be done in a different order than the order that isstated in examples herein. Steps may be performed serially, in apartially overlapping manner, or fully in parallel. The order in whichsteps are performed during a process may vary from one performance ofthe process to another performance of the process. The order may alsovary from one process example to another process example. Steps may alsobe omitted, combined, renamed, regrouped, or otherwise depart from thestated flow, provided that the process performed is operable andconforms to at least one claim of this or a descendant disclosure.

Examples are provided herein to help illustrate aspects of thetechnology, but the examples given within this document do not describeall possible examples. Examples are not limited to the specificimplementations, arrangements, displays, features, approaches, orscenarios provided herein. A given example may include additional ordifferent technical features, mechanisms, and/or data structures, forinstance, and may otherwise depart from the examples provided herein.

Reference is made to exemplary examples, and specific language will beused herein to describe the same. But alterations and furthermodifications of the features illustrated herein, and additionaltechnical applications of the abstract principles illustrated byparticular examples herein, which would occur to one skilled in therelevant art(s) and having possession of this disclosure, should beconsidered within the scope of the claims.

Some Comments Regarding Trademarks

Numerous trademarks are used nominatively in this disclosure, e.g., toidentify familiar games. Unless expressly stated otherwise, each markrefers to the indicated game or family of games as commerciallyavailable under the mark on the date of the present disclosure's filing.The proprietary nature of the marks is respected herein by use of theRegistration Indicator® and/or by identification of the mark's owner.Current mark ownership can be ascertained or verified, e.g., through useof the USPTO Trademark Electronic Search System, the World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO) databases, and/or similar public records.The following marks are owned by an owner of rights in the presentdisclosure: Do It™, Bend A Game™, Bejinx™, Bejinxed™, Bejinks™Supercharge Any Game!™, It's not a game. It's a Game Changer™, and TheGame Changer.™ Other marks are the property of their respective owners,and their use herein is not intended to indicate any affiliation,sponsorship, or other legal relationship between those owners and anyowner of rights in the present disclosure. For instance, Bejinx™ cardswork well with the Monopoly® game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), but as of thisdisclosure's filing date Hasbro, Inc. has no sponsorship, affiliation,or other business relationship with the Bejinx™ deck's publisher,Smiling Pines LLC.

Some Terminology

The meaning of terms is clarified in this disclosure, so the claimsshould be read with careful attention to these clarifications. Specificexamples are given, but those of skill in the relevant art(s) willunderstand that other examples may also fall within the meaning of theterms used, and within the scope of one or more claims. Terms do notnecessarily have the same meaning here that they have in general usage(particularly in non-technical usage), or in the usage of a particularindustry, or in a particular dictionary or set of dictionaries.Reference numerals may be added in subsequent filings along withfigures, but they are not required to understand the present disclosure.The inventors assert and exercise their right to their own lexicography.Quoted terms are defined explicitly, but quotation marks are not usedwhen a term is defined implicitly. Terms may be defined, eitherexplicitly or implicitly, here in the Detailed Description and/orelsewhere in the application file.

As used herein, a “computer system” may include, for example, one ormore servers, motherboards, processing nodes, personal computers(portable or not), personal digital assistants, smartphones, cell ormobile phones, other mobile devices having at least a processor and amemory, and/or other device(s) providing one or more processorscontrolled at least in part by instructions. The instructions may be inthe form of firmware or other software in memory and/or specializedcircuitry. In particular, although it may occur that many examples runon workstation or laptop computers, other examples may run on othercomputing devices, and any one or more such devices may be part of agiven example.

A “multithreaded” computer system is a computer system which supportsmultiple execution threads. The term “thread” should be understood toinclude any code capable of or subject to scheduling (and possibly tosynchronization), and may also be known by another name, such as “task,”“process,” or “coroutine,” for example. The threads may run in parallel,in sequence, or in a combination of parallel execution (e.g.,multiprocessing) and sequential execution (e.g., time-sliced).Multithreaded environments have been designed in various configurations.Execution threads may run in parallel, or threads may be organized forparallel execution but actually take turns executing in sequence.Multithreading may be implemented, for example, by running differentthreads on different cores in a multiprocessing environment, bytime-slicing different threads on a single processor core, or by somecombination of time-sliced and multi-processor threading. Thread contextswitches may be initiated, for example, by a kernel's thread scheduler,by user-space signals, or by a combination of user-space and kerneloperations. Threads may take turns operating on shared data, or eachthread may operate on its own data, for example.

A “logical processor” or “processor” is a single independent hardwarethread-processing unit, such as a core in a simultaneous multithreadingimplementation. As another example, a hyperthreaded quad core chiprunning two threads per core has eight logical processors. A logicalprocessor includes hardware. The term “logical” is used to prevent amistaken conclusion that a given chip has at most one processor;“logical processor” and “processor” are used interchangeably herein.Processors may be general purpose, or they may be tailored for specificuses such as graphics processing, signal processing, floating-pointarithmetic processing, encryption, I/O processing, and so on.

A “multiprocessor” computer system is a computer system which hasmultiple logical processors. Multiprocessor environments occur invarious configurations. In a given configuration, all of the processorsmay be functionally equal, whereas in another configuration someprocessors may differ from other processors by virtue of havingdifferent hardware capabilities, different software assignments, orboth. Depending on the configuration, processors may be tightly coupledto each other on a single bus, or they may be loosely coupled. In someconfigurations the processors share a central memory, in some they eachhave their own local memory, and in some configurations both shared andlocal memories are present.

“Kernels” include operating systems, hypervisors, virtual machines, BIOScode, and similar hardware interface software.

“Code” means processor instructions, data (which includes constants,variables, and data structures), or both instructions and data.

“Program” is used broadly herein, to include applications, kernels,drivers, interrupt handlers, libraries, and other code written byprogrammers (who are also referred to as developers).

As used herein, “include” allows additional elements (i.e., includesmeans comprises) unless otherwise stated. “Consists of” means consistsessentially of, or consists entirely of. X consists essentially of Ywhen the non-Y part of X, if any, can be freely altered, removed, and/oradded without altering the functionality of claimed examples so far as aclaim in question is concerned.

“Process” is sometimes used herein as a term of the computing sciencearts, and in that technical sense encompasses resource users, namely,coroutines, threads, tasks, interrupt handlers, application processes,kernel processes, procedures, and object methods, for example. “Process”is also used herein as a patent law term of art, e.g., in describing aprocess claim as opposed to a system claim or an article of manufacture(configured storage medium) claim. Similarly, “method” is used herein attimes as a technical term in the computing science arts (a kind of“routine”) and also as a patent law term of art (a “process”). Those ofskill will understand which meaning is intended in a particularinstance, and will also understand that a given claimed process ormethod (in the patent law sense) may sometimes be implemented using oneor more processes or methods (in the computing science sense).

“Automatically” means by use of automation (e.g., general purposecomputing hardware configured by software for specific operations andtechnical effects discussed herein), as opposed to without automation.In particular, steps performed “automatically” are not performed by handon paper or in a person's mind, although they may be initiated by ahuman person or guided interactively by a human person. Automatic stepsare performed with a machine in order to obtain one or more technicaleffects that would not be realized without the technical interactionsthus provided.

“Computationally” likewise means a computing device (processor plusmemory, at least) is being used, and excludes obtaining a result by merehuman thought or mere human action alone. For example, doing arithmeticwith a paper and pencil is not doing arithmetic computationally asunderstood herein. Computational results are faster, broader, deeper,more accurate, more consistent, more comprehensive, and/or otherwiseprovide technical effects that are beyond the scope of human performancealone. “Computational steps” are steps performed computationally.Neither “automatically” nor “computationally” necessarily means“immediately”. “Computationally” and “automatically” are usedinterchangeably herein.

“Proactively” means without a direct request from a user. Indeed, a usermay not even realize that a proactive step by an example was possibleuntil a result of the step has been presented to the user. Except asotherwise stated, any computational and/or automatic step describedherein may also be done proactively.

Throughout this document, use of the optional plural “(s)”, “(es)”, or“(ies)” means that one or more of the indicated feature is present. Forexample, “processor(s)” means “one or more processors” or equivalently“at least one processor”.

Throughout this document, unless expressly stated otherwise anyreference to a step in a process presumes that the step may be performeddirectly by a party of interest and/or performed indirectly by the partythrough intervening mechanisms and/or intervening entities, and stilllie within the scope of the step. That is, direct performance of thestep by the party of interest is not required unless direct performanceis an expressly stated requirement. For example, a step involving actionby a party of interest with regard to a destination or other subject mayinvolve intervening action such as forwarding, copying, uploading,downloading, encoding, decoding, compressing, decompressing, encrypting,decrypting, authenticating, invoking, and so on by some other party, yetstill be understood as being performed directly by the party ofinterest.

Whenever reference is made to data or instructions, it is understoodthat these items configure a computer-readable memory and/orcomputer-readable storage medium, thereby transforming it to aparticular article, as opposed to simply existing on paper, in aperson's mind, or as a mere signal being propagated on a wire, forexample. Unless expressly stated otherwise in a claim, a claim does notcover a signal per se. For the purposes of patent protection in theUnited States, a memory or other computer-readable storage medium is nota propagating signal or a carrier wave outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under the United States Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) interpretation of statutory subject matter.

Moreover, notwithstanding anything apparently to the contrary elsewhereherein, a clear distinction is to be understood between (a) computerreadable storage media and computer readable memory, on the one hand,and (b) transmission media, also referred to as signal media, on theother hand. A transmission medium is a propagating signal or a carrierwave computer readable medium. By contrast, computer readable storagemedia and computer readable memory are not propagating signal or carrierwave computer readable media. Unless expressly stated otherwise,“computer readable medium” means a computer readable storage medium, nota propagating signal per se.

An Overview of Some Game Modification Equipment

FIG. 1 is block diagram illustrating original game equipment 100 ingeneral. “Original game equipment” means the equipment of an originalgame 102, also called a familiar game 102 or an unmodified game 102. Anoriginal game is any game which predates the conception of theinnovations described herein, or any game which lacks game modificationinstructions that are designed and implemented to apply new mechanismsin multiple games of different types, e.g., in two or more of thefollowing categories: board games, playing card games, deck-buildingcard cards, dice games, tile-laying games, domino games. A distinctionis made between presence of a mechanism in a game for use only in thatgame, on the one hand, and a game modification mechanism which appliesto games of different types. For instance, Monopoly® play includes amechanism which gives a player another dice roll when the player rollsdoubles. This is different than a game instruction which gives a playerof any modified original game an extra turn in the original gameregardless of whether that game is Monopoly® or checkers or Mancala orgin rummy or some other game.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating game equipment 200 for modifiedplay, also called enhanced play or expanded play. Equipment 200 includesoriginal game equipment 100 in functional combination with gamemodification equipment 202. The functionality of the combinationresults, for example, from (a) a reference to the original gameequipment made in the game modification equipment (e.g., an instructionto “reveal a hidden item which is not a Bejinx™ card” or to “give yourlargest bill back to the bank”), or from (b) modification of the use ofthe original game equipment (e.g., “take an extra turn”), or from both(e.g., “two players must swap all game items”, or “return an item of theoriginal game to its location and status when the game began”).

FIG. 3 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment 200 of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game 102 ischeckers. The modified checkers equipment 300 is an example of gameequipment 200. Modified checkers equipment 300 includes checkersoriginal game equipment 302, namely, a board 304 and draughts 306, infunctional combination with game modification equipment 202.

FIG. 4 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment 200 of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game 102 is aYahtzee® game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.). The modified Yahtzee® equipment400 is an example of game equipment 200. Modified Yahtzee® equipment 400includes Yahtzee® original game equipment 402, namely, dice 404 and ascore sheet 406 with scoring rules and score boxes 408 to hold scores,in functional combination with game modification equipment 202.

FIG. 5 is block diagram further illustrating the modified play gameequipment 200 of FIG. 2, in which the modified original game 102 is aMonopoly® game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.). The modified Monopoly® equipment500 is an example of game equipment 200. Modified Monopoly® equipment500 includes Monopoly® original game equipment 502, namely, a board 504,tokens 506, play money bills 508, property cards 510, houses 512, hotels514, and Chance and Community Chest or similar draw cards 516, infunctional combination with game modification equipment 202.

FIG. 6 is block diagram further illustrating game modification equipment202. Examples of equipment 202 may include, for instance, a deck 600 ofgame modification cards 602, a game modification spinner 604 such as awheel 606 or reel 608, standalone game modification software 610, alsocalled a “mod widget” herein, and/or game modification software 612which is integrated into software for a particular game (also called“modware” herein).

As to decks 600 of game modification cards 602, the cards 602 may beformed 1742 with stiff paper, card stock, plastic, and/or materialstypically used in manufacturing cards used in board games, for example.Game modification instructions 800 and other indicia (e.g., brands 806,graphic designs such as Charm card images, supplemental markings 808)may be printed 1742 on the cards 602 using laser printing, ink jetprinting, offset printing, lithography, and/or any printing technologytypically used in printing playing cards, tarot cards, and/or cards usedin board games, for example. Indicia may also be hand-written 1744 oncards 602. The cards 602 may be sized to match or approximate pokercards, bridge cards, playing cards, business cards, tarot cards, orother sizes.

A game modification deck 600 normally includes a plurality of cards 602.During development of prototypes and products according to the teachingsherein, decks ranging in size from 27 cards to 200 cards have been made1742, but the number of cards in a particular deck 600 may also beoutside that range, having either fewer than 27 or more than 200 cards602. A deck size of 54 cards is convenient for manufacturing 1742purposes, since it matches the number of cards in a standard deck ofplaying cards. Numbers such as 18 (54/3), 27 (54/2), 108 (54*2), and 162(54*3) are accordingly also convenient, but deck 600 sizes are notlimited to such numbers.

As to game modification spinners 604, a given collection of equipment202 may contain one or more spinners 604 of one or more kinds. Forinstance, spinners may take the visual form of a wheel with pie-shapedcomponents or the form of a reel resembling a slot machine reel. Wheel606 spinners are generally disk-shaped, with the game modificationinstructions 800 written on one side of the disk. A conventionalroulette wheel is likewise disk-shaped, with its conventional markingsappearing on one side of the disk. The spinner used in The Game of Life®(mark of Hasbro, Inc.) is another example of a disk-shaped spinner whichhas conventional markings appearing on one side of the disk. Wheel 606spinners differ from these conventional spinners in the functionality oftheir indicia, and in their applicability to a variety of gamecategories 1769. Reel 608 spinners are shaped like cylindrical sections,with the game modification instructions 800 written on the annularoutside face of the section. Physical slot machine reels are likewiseshaped like cylindrical sections, with conventional markings written onthe annular outside face of the section. Reel 608 spinners differ fromslot machine reels in the functionality of their indicia, and in theirapplicability to a variety of games, e.g., reels 608 may be functionallycombined with physical board game equipment to alter play of a boardgame. Spinners 604 may be made 1742 of plastic, wood, metal, and/orother materials typically used in manufacturing conventional spinners,for example. Game modification instructions 800 and other indicia may beprinted 1742 on the spinners 604 or on stickers adhered to the spinners604 using laser printing, ink jet printing, offset printing,lithography, and/or other printing technology, for example. Indicia mayalso be hand-written on spinners 604. The spinners 604 may be sized tomatch or approximate the size of conventional spinners, or they may haveother sizes.

As to standalone game modification software 610, it may be implemented1742 as an app (i.e., application or widget) for a smartphone, a tablet,a laptop, or a workstation, for example. Functionality of the app 610includes emulating the game-modification-instruction-providingfunctionality of a deck 600 or spinner 604. For instance, when a playerpresses a “draw” button or speaks the word “draw” or another commandword, the app 610 displays (visually and/or aurally by speech synthesisor recording) a game modification instruction 800. The same app 610 canbe used with different real-world and/or virtual-world games, as taughtfor example in FIGS. 11-16 herein.

As to game-integrated modification software 612, it may be implemented1742 as a game application for a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or aworkstation, for example. Functionality of the application 612 includesconventional game functionality modified by emulating thegame-modification-instruction-providing functionality of a deck 600 orspinner 604 and then implementing the instructions 800 within theapplication 612. For instance, assume the application 612 is based on aconventional checkers game. When a player presses a “draw” button orspeaks the word “draw” or another command word, the application 612displays (visually and/or aurally by speech synthesis or recording) agame modification instruction 800, e.g., “take an extra turn”. Theapplication 612 then operates to let the player take two turns (contraryto conventional rules of checkers) before the right to take a turnpasses back to a second human player (or back to the computer when oneplayer is playing against the computer). Other game modificationinstructions are likewise drawn by players and followed by theapplication 612 during modified play.

FIG. 7 illustrates a deck 600 of game modification cards 602, and rules700 (a.k.a. guide 700) for modified game play. The rules 700 may beprinted on one or more cards of the deck 600, for instance, on aseparate article (sheet, guidebook) sold or otherwise provided with thedeck 600, in a website identified by deck indicia, or a combination ofthese articles, for example. One embodiment which will be commerciallyavailable includes a brief rule recitation on one side of one card in adeck 600, may also include a folded sheet or half-sheet of paper withadditional rule 700 content that is tucked into a box with deck cards602, and the equipment 202 bears the website address smilingpines dotcom, where a more comprehensive set of rules will be posted. Thiswebsite address is used herein only as an example; it is not intended tobe a live link or to incorporate subject matter into this disclosure. Insome embodiments, rule 700 content is derived at least in part from,e.g., FIG. 11, a spreadsheet example card given herein, and/or a Bejinx™guide example given herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a back side 802 and a front side 804 of a single card602 of a deck 600 of game modification cards. Game modificationinstructions 800 may be conveyed as text, and/or as symbols or images,for example. The modification instructions 800 are not mere ornamentalprinted matter, because they alter a game-playing process (e.g.,contrast FIG. 10 with FIG. 11), and they also supplement the originalgame's equipment (e.g., contrast FIG. 1 with FIG. 2). In someembodiments, game modification equipment 202 is not usable in isolation;it functions only in conjunction with one or more sets of original gameequipment 100.

FIG. 9 further illustrates contexts and some implementation 1742alternatives for game modification software 610 and/or 612. An operatingenvironment 900 for a computer-implemented example may include acomputer system 902, also referred to herein as a device 902. Thecomputer system 902 may be a multiprocessor computer system, or not. Anoperating environment 900 may include one or more machines in a givencomputer system, which may be clustered, client-server networked, and/orpeer-to-peer networked. An individual machine is a computer system, anda group of cooperating machines is also a computer system. A givencomputer system 902 may be configured for end-users, e.g., withapplications, for administrators, as a server, as a distributedprocessing node, and/or in other ways.

Human users 904 may interact with the computer system 902 by usingdisplays 926, keyboards, and other peripherals 906, via typed text,touch, voice, movement, computer vision, gestures, and/or other forms ofI/O. A user interface in gameware 920 may support interaction between anexample 610/612 and one or more human users 904. A user interface mayinclude a command line interface, a graphical user interface (GUI),natural user interface (NUI), voice command interface, and/or otherinterface presentations. A user interface may be generated on a localdesktop computer, or on a smart phone, for example, or it may begenerated from a web server and sent to a client. The user interface maybe generated as part of a service and it may be integrated with otherservices, such as social networking services. A given operatingenvironment 900 includes devices and infrastructure which support thesedifferent user interface generation options and uses.

Natural user interface (NUI) operation may use speech recognition, touchand stylus recognition, gesture recognition both on screen and adjacentto the screen, air gestures, head and eye tracking, voice and speech,vision, touch, gestures, and/or machine intelligence, for example. Someexamples of NUI technologies include touch sensitive displays, voice andspeech recognition, intention and goal understanding, motion gesturedetection using depth cameras (such as stereoscopic camera systems,infrared camera systems, RGB camera systems and combinations of these),motion gesture detection using accelerometers/gyroscopes, facialrecognition, 3D displays, head, eye, and gaze tracking, immersiveaugmented reality and virtual reality systems, all of which provide amore natural interface, as well as technologies for sensing brainactivity using electric field sensing electrodes (electroencephalographand related tools).

As another example, a game 920 may be resident on a game server. Thegame may be purchased from a console and it may be executed in whole orin part on the server, on the console, or both. Multiple users 904 mayinteract with the game using standard controllers, air gestures, voice,or using a companion device 902 such as a smartphone or a tablet. Agiven operating environment includes devices and infrastructure whichsupport these different use scenarios.

System administrators, developers, engineers, gamers, consumers,players, and end-users are each a particular type of user 904. Automatedagents, scripts, playback software, and the like acting on behalf of oneor more people may also be users 904. Storage devices and/or networkingdevices may be considered peripheral equipment in some examples. Othercomputer systems may interact in technological ways with the computersystem or with another system example using one or more connections to anetwork via network interface equipment, for example. One of skill willappreciate that the foregoing aspects and other aspects presented hereinas to operating environments may also form part of a given examplecovered in a claim.

The computer system 902 includes at least one logical processor 910. Thecomputer system, like other suitable systems, also includes one or morecomputer-readable storage media 912. Media may be of different physicaltypes. The media 912 may be volatile memory, non-volatile memory, fixedin place media, removable media, magnetic media, optical media,solid-state media, and/or of other types of physical durable storagemedia (as opposed to merely a propagated signal). In particular, aconfigured medium 914 such as a portable (i.e., external) hard drive,CD, DVD, memory stick, or other removable non-volatile memory medium maybecome functionally a technological part of the computer system 902 wheninserted or otherwise installed, making its content accessible forinteraction with and use by processor. The removable configured medium914 is an example of a computer-readable storage medium 912. Some otherexamples of computer-readable storage media include built-in RAM, ROM,hard disks, and other memory storage devices which are not readilyremovable by users. For compliance with current United States patentrequirements, neither a computer-readable medium nor a computer-readablestorage medium nor a computer-readable memory is a signal per se.

The medium 914 is configured with instructions 916 that are executableby a processor 910; “executable” is used in a broad sense herein toinclude machine code, interpretable code, bytecode, and/or code thatruns on a virtual machine, for example. The medium 914 is alsoconfigured with data 918 which is created, modified, referenced, and/orotherwise used for technical effect by execution of the instructions916. The instructions and the data configure the memory or other storagemedium in which they reside; when that memory or other computer readablestorage medium is a functional part of a given computer system, theinstructions and data also configure that computer system. In someexamples, a portion of the data 918 is representative of real-worlditems such as product characteristics, inventories, physicalmeasurements, settings, images, readings, targets, volumes, and soforth. Such data 918 is also transformed by backup, restore, commits,aborts, reformatting, and/or other technical operations.

Medium 912 may include disks (magnetic, optical, or otherwise), RAM,EEPROMS or other ROMs, and/or other configurable memory, including inparticular computer-readable media (as opposed to mere propagatedsignals). The storage medium which is configured may be in particular aremovable storage medium 914 such as a CD, DVD, or flash memory. Ageneral-purpose memory, which may be removable or not, and may bevolatile or not, can be configured into an example using items such asdigital versions of game modification cards 602 and code 916, 918 whichinjects game modifications into an original game 102, in the form ofdata and instructions read from a removable medium and/or another sourcesuch as a network connection, to form a configured medium. Theconfigured medium is capable of causing a computer system to performtechnical process steps as disclosed herein. Examples thus helpillustrate configured storage media examples and process examples, aswell as system and process examples.

Although an example may be described as being implemented as softwareinstructions 916 executed by one or more processors in a computingdevice (e.g., general purpose computer, cell phone, or gaming console),such description is not meant to exhaust all possible examples. One ofskill will understand that the same or similar functionality can alsooften be implemented, in whole or in part, directly in hardware logic,to provide the same or similar technical effects. Alternatively, or inaddition to software implementation, the technical functionalitydescribed herein can be performed, at least in part, by one or morehardware logic components in a system 902. For example, and withoutexcluding other implementations, an example may include hardware logiccomponents such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs),Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Application-SpecificStandard Products (ASSPs), System-on-a-Chip components (SOCs), ComplexProgrammable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and similar components. Componentsof an example may be grouped into interacting functional modules basedon their inputs, outputs, and/or their technical effects, for example.

In some environments, one or more original game applications 612 havecode whose behavior is modified according to some or all of the gamemodification changes and game enhancements described herein. The codeand other items may each reside partially or entirely within one or morehardware media, thereby configuring those media for technical effectswhich go beyond the “normal” (i.e., least common denominator)interactions inherent in all hardware—software cooperative operation. Inaddition to processors (CPUs, ALUs, FPUs, and/or GPUs) 910,memory/storage media 912, display(s) 926, and battery(ies), an operatingenvironment 900 may also include other hardware, such as buses, powersupplies, wired and wireless network interface cards, and accelerators,for instance, whose respective operations are described herein to theextent not already apparent to one of skill. CPUs are central processingunits, ALUs are arithmetic and logic units, FPUs are floating pointprocessing units, and GPUs are graphical processing units.

Some examples provide a device 902 with a logical processor 910 and amemory medium 912 configured by circuitry, firmware, and/or software toprovide technical effects such as original game modification directed attechnical problems such as expanding (a.k.a. enhancing) the originalgame 102 by adding suspense, strategy opportunities, and other aspectsthat spice up the original game without obscuring its original nature.Indeed, original games 102 can be revitalized by modifications describedherein.

In some examples peripherals 906 such as human user I/O devices (screen,keyboard, mouse, tablet, microphone, speaker, motion sensor, etc.) willbe present in operable communication with one or more processors andmemory. Software processes may be users. In some examples, the systemincludes multiple computers connected by a network 908. Networkinginterface equipment can provide access to networks, using componentssuch as a packet-switched network interface card, a wirelesstransceiver, or a telephone network interface, for example, which may bepresent in a given computer system. However, an example may alsocommunicate technical data and/or technical instructions through directmemory access, removable nonvolatile media, or other informationstorage-retrieval and/or transmission approaches, or an example in acomputer system may operate without communicating with other computersystems. Some examples operate in a network 908 “cloud” computingenvironment and/or a network 908 “cloud” storage environment in whichcomputing services and/or storage are not owned by their user but areinstead provided on demand.

An Overview of Some Game Play Processes

FIG. 10 is a flow chart 1000 illustrating aspects of conventional gameplay in the absence of game modification. Players set up 1002 gameequipment 100, e.g., by shuffling cards and passing out initial hands,by placing tokens or pieces in their starting locations on a game board,and so on, according to the game 102 about to be played. The playerspick 1004 a player (or a team of players) to have the first turn 1006.For example, the player who rolls the highest value, or is the youngest,or won the last game, might be picked to go first, according to the game102 about to be played or based on another agreement among the players904.

Then a loop starts, which continues until the game 102 is over. Theplayer whose turn it is takes 1008 that turn, according to the rules ofthe game 102 being played. The player uses only the original gameequipment 100, at least so far as tokens, boards, cards, dice, tiles,and other non-monetary items are concerned (cash, car keys, playerclothing, star cruisers, and other personal belongings staked in a givengame are not considered original game equipment). If the game does notend as a result of the player's turn, the turn 1006 advances 1010 to thenext player, and play continues. In many games, players (or teams) areseated in a circular, rectangular, or other arrangement around aperimeter, and turns advance 1010 in sequence either clockwise orcounterclockwise around the perimeter. If the game ends as a result ofthe player's turn, the participants acknowledge 1012 the winner orwinners of the game, and move on to the next game or other activity.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart 1100 illustrating aspects of modified game play204 in some circumstances. FIGS. 12 through 16 each provide a respectiveflow chart 1200 through 1600 illustrating aspects of a modified play 204for a particular original game 102. FIGS. 17 through 19 collectivelyprovide a flow chart 1700 which further illustrates steps of someprocess, configured storage medium, and other examples.

Some differences from conventional play flow chart 1000 are highlightedin FIGS. 12 through 16 by thicker lines in modified play flow chart 1100and its instances. As shown, players still set up 1002 original gameequipment 100, but they also prepare 1102 any game modificationapparatus 1104 of the game modification equipment 202 for play.Preparation 1102 may include actions such as shuffling game modificationcards 602 and placing them in one or more draw piles, or launching agame mod widget 610, for instance. Preparation 1102 may also includeadding desired cards 602 to a deck 600, or removing cards 602 from thedeck 600. As indicated in flow chart 1100, players may set up set up1002 original game equipment 100 before, or after, or concurrently withthe preparation 1102 of game modification equipment 202.

At the next step of flow chart 1100, the current player pulls 1106 atleast one game modification instruction 800. For instance, a player maypull 1106 the top card 602 from a face-down draw pile portion of a gamemodification deck 600, or the player may pull 1106 by pressing a “draw”button in modware 612 or a mod widget 610, or the player may pull 1106by spinning a spinner 604. In versions of modified play which includesayings cards 602 or other cards players keep in their hand for lateruse, a player may also pull 1106 one or more cards 602 from their ownhand.

At the next step of flow chart 1100, the player P who just pulled 1106an instruction 800, and any other players implicated in that instruction800, proceed by following 1108 the instruction 800. Following 1108 someinstructions 800 will give the player P an extra turn 1006, following1108 some instructions 800 will give 1784 another player a turn insteadof P, and following 1108 some instructions 800 will cause player P tolose 1782 a turn. Accordingly, flow chart 1100 indicates that playersmay take turn(s) in conjunction with following 1108 the gamemodification instruction pulled by player P.

Players (or an automated game which controls who goes next) check 1702to see whether the original game has ended, according to the rules ofthat game 102. For instance, players pieces may have reached a goal, aset of game resources such as tiles or cards to draw may be exhausted, awinning score may have been reached, a specified number of rounds mayhave been played, and/or some other original game condition may besatisfied that indicates the original game is over.

If the game does not end as a result of following 1108 the gamemodification instruction pulled by player P, or as a result of any turnstaken in conjunction with the instruction, the next turn to pull aninstruction goes 1110 to another player, and play continues. Following1108 some instructions 800 will change who gets the next turn, so inmodified play turns do not necessarily advance 1010 in sequence to thenext player around a perimeter. For example, the turn order may bereversed, teams might be split apart or merged, and players may changeseats.

If the original game 102 ends as a result of a player's turn, or aresult of following 1108 a game modification instruction (e.g., FinalRound!), then in this example the players 904 follow any remaining gamemodification instructions to determine the ultimate winner. Forinstance, a player may nominally win the original game 102, but not bethe ultimate winner due to ending up with a You Just Can't Win card 602.Finally, participants acknowledge 1012 the ultimate winner or winners1704 of the modified game 204, and move on to the next game or otheractivity.

Additional details and design considerations are provided below. As withthe other examples herein, the features described may be usedindividually and/or in combination, or not at all, in a given example.

An Example Do It™ Card Deck

The phrase “Do It™ Card” refers herein solely for convenience to certaincards 602 (physical and/or digital) used in modifying 1706 originalgames' functionality 1708 in some examples; it does not limit theteachings or claims to equipment bearing that mark, and the same is trueof other marks used herein to conveniently identify some examples. SomeDo It™ cards contain instructions for modifying the play of an originalgame and also identify 1710 time periods (a.k.a. segments) 1712 in whichto follow those instructions. For instance, some segments 1712 are named“Do it now”, “Do it Now or Later”, or “Do it Later”. Cards 602 with a“Now or Later” segment 1712 can be followed immediately or placed in aplayer's personal stock and then followed during a later turn. Cards 602with a “Later” option are placed in a player's personal stock (a.k.a.hand) to be followed during a later turn unless circumstances intervene,e.g., the cards might be discarded or taken by another player beforethey can be used.

“Original Games” or “regular games” or “unmodified games” are previouslyknown games 102, such as poker and other card games, checkers and otherboard games, domino and other tile games, dice games, parlor games, andother familiar games having one or more players and the taking of turnswith game items 100 (cards, dice, pieces, tokens, money, etc.) until aconclusion (e.g., win, loss, draw, stalemate, timeout) is reached (i.e.,game is over).

Embodiments are not limited to those which use the mark Do It™, are notlimited to those whose text exactly matches the text examples givenhere, are not limited to examples having the specific instructions formodifying 1706 original game play printed on cards as opposed toprovided elsewhere, and are not limited to examples which use English toconvey the instructions. Game modification instructions may be given inone or more languages. Spiel Modifikation Anweisungen können in eineroder mehreren Sprachen gegeben werden. Instructions de modification dejeu peuvent être données dans une ou plusieurs langues. Instrucciones demodificación de juegos se pueden dar en una o más lenguas.

In some examples, a deck 600 containing Do It™ Cards includes at leastone or more of at least some of the following cards 602, whosefunctionality is denoted here by illustrative text, in which “<when>”denotes a time segment such as “Do it Now”, “Do it Now or Later”, or “Doit Later”:

“Take 2 turns—<when>”, “Skip your turn—<when>”, “Give your turn to anyother player—<when>”, “Give your turn to the player on yourright—<when>”, “Name 2 players; they must trade seats (but onlyseats—not game items)—<when>”, “Trade seats with another player; tradeonly seats, not game items—<when>”, “Trade all game items with anotherplayer—<when>”, “Trade 1 game item with another player; you choose eachitem, but choose the other player's item blindly if its value ishidden—<when>”, “Trade 1 game item with another player; the other playerchooses each item, but must choose an item blindly if its value ishidden—<when>”, “Trade 1 game item with another player; each of youchooses which of your items you will trade—<when>”, “Name 2 players;they must each give the other 1 game item that you choose, though youmust choose blindly if an item's value is hidden—<when>”, “Name 2players; they must each give the other 1 game item of their ownchoosing—<when>”, “Name 2 players; they must trade all gameitems—<when>”, “Take 1 Do It™ card from the first player to your leftwho has a card, though you must choose blindly if the card's value ishidden—<when>”, “Take 1 Do It™ card from any other player if you can,though you must choose blindly if the card's value is hidden and youcannot take the “You Just Can't Win” card—<when>”, Null or Charm Sayingscards (see below), “You Just Can't Win—show [1733] this card to everyoneNow—whoever has this card at the game's end after the original game isplayed and all Do It™ cards are played does not win. Period.”, “Ifanyone has the card ‘You Just Can't Win’ move it to any otherplayer—<when>”, “If anyone has the card ‘You Just Can't Win’ move it tothe player to their left—<when>”, “Discard this card and any other DoIt™ card of your own—<when>”, “Discard this card and any other Do It™card of the first player to your left who has a card, though you mustchoose blindly if the card's value is hidden—<when>”, “Discard this cardand any other Do It™ card of any other player you choose, though youmust choose the card blindly if the card's value is hidden—<when>”.

Null cards are identifiable 1714 in this example deck as a type ofSayings cards 2034, 602. Saying cards exemplify a category 1716 of gamemodification instructions, in which two or more cards 602 arecollectible 1718 into a player's hand 1720 for later redemption 1722 toobtain an extra turn or another benefit. Some examples of null sayingsinclude “Nothing to see here”, “Zilch”, “Nada”, “One large goose egg”,“Move along”, “Nothing, really”, “You're looking at the Face of theGreat Empty! (whoop whoop)”, “Zippo”, “Blank

”, “Just get on with it, please”, “Void”, “Zero”, “It's nothing”,“Nichts”, “Rien”, “Nanimo”, “Wu”, “Nihilum”, “Insignificancy”, “Nix”,“Neecheevoh”, “Diddly squat”, “Zip”. Additional examples are given intext in figures in some of the preceding referenced applications.

Charm (a.k.a. Lucky Charm) cards are another type of Sayings cards 2034,602; from a gameplay mechanism perspective, Charm cards can operate likethe Do It™ Null cards, since they can likewise be redeemed 1722 to giveextra turns or permit evasion of Winning Caveat cards 2018 such as YouJust Can't Win cards. However, from an artistic perspective, and acopyright perspective, the sayings on null cards different in theme andtone from the sayings on charm cards. Null cards thematically connotenothingness or emptiness, and have a resigned or even sardonic tone.Charm cards thematically connote good luck or good fortune, and have anupbeat or even nurturing tone. Some examples of charm sayings are givenelsewhere herein; they include “You're in luck!”, “Better to be bornlucky than rich.”, and others.

Some additional examples of Do It™ game modification cards 602 includetextual instructions 800 according to the following, with segments 1712indicated variously as “Do it Now”, “Do it Now or Later (but not afterthe original game)”, “Do it Later (but not after the original game)”,“Skip your turn in the original game”, and other segments shown herein,and annotated with some instruction category 1716 reference numbers andnames shown in curly braces (per the FIG. 20 categorization; othercategorizations are also disclosed herein): “Take 2 turns (but not 2 DoIt™ cards)” {turn count 2010}, “Give any other Player your current turnin the original game” {turn count 2010}, “Give the Player on your leftyour current turn in the original game” {turn count 2010}, “Name 2 otherPlayers. Then they must trade seats while keeping all their game items”{seating 2008}, “Trade seats with any other Player. You each keep allyour game items” {seating 2008}, “Trade all game items with anotherPlayer but do it Later (even after the original game!)” {exchange item2024}, “Trade 1 game item with another Player. You choose the Player andthe items, but if the item's value is hidden you must choose blindly.You cannot choose a piece on a board. You can choose the “You Just Can'tWin” card.” {exchange item 2024}, “Trade 1 game item with another PlayerYou choose the Player, but the Player chooses the items. They cannotchoose a piece on a board. They can choose the ‘You Just Can't Win’card. If the item's value is hidden they must choose blindly.” {exchangeitem 2024}, “Trade 1 game item with another Player. You choose thePlayer. You each choose an item to take, but cannot choose a piece on aboard. Neither can choose the ‘You Just Can't Win’ card. If the item'svalue is hidden, make the choice blindly.” {exchange item 2024}, “Name 2other Players; they will trade 1 game item each. You choose the 2 itemsthey will trade, but cannot choose a piece on a board. You can choosethe ‘You Just Can't Win’ card. If an item's value is hidden then chooseblindly” {exchange item 2024}, “Take 1 Do It™ card from the Player onyour left. Take no card if that Player has none, but you must take the‘You Just Can't Win’ card if that Player has it.” {take item 2022}, “YOUJUST CAN'T WIN. Show everyone this card Now! For the moment at least,you are stuck with it. Whoever has this card after the original game isover and all the Do It™ cards have been played does not win. Period.”{win caveat 2018}, “If anyone has the ‘YOU JUST CAN'T WIN’ card, move itto any other Player” {win caveat 2018}, “Discard this card and one otherDo It™ card of your own if you have one. You may discard the “You JustCan't Win” card.” {discard item 2006}, clockwise or counterclockwisecircular arrow with text “After your turn, Players take turns this way.Leave this card where everyone can see it.” {turn order 2012}, “Discardthis card and one other Do It™ card of any other Player. You may discardthe ‘You Just Can't Win’ card. If a card's value is hidden then chooseblindly.” {discard item 2006}, “Give any other Player your turn in theoriginal game” {turn count 2010}, “Do It™ Rules 1.4: 1. Do It™ rulesmodify play of an original game. The original game can be any card game,board game, tile game, dice game, etc. 2. Pull a Do It™ card either froma Do It™ card draw pile or else from your own stock of “Later” and “Nowor Later” Do It™ cards. 3. Pull a Do It™ card and follow itsinstructions before your turn in the original game, or else you losethat turn. 4. Follow the ‘Do it Now’ card instructions now; put ‘Do itLater’ cards face down in your stock for later. Choose between these for‘Do it Now or Later’ cards. Played cards go on a discard pile. 5. Playall legal Do It™ cards after the original game ends to see who wins theDo It™ supercharged version of the game. Enjoy!” {administrativenon-instruction card to document or explain deck 600}, “Do It™ GameModification Deck 1. 4 for adding excitement to card games, board games,tile games, dice games, and virtually any other game. Supercharge AnyGame!™” {administrative non-instruction card to document or explain deck600}, “Discard this card and all the Do It™ cards of another Player.Even the ‘You Just Can't Win’ card, if they have it.” {discard item2006}, “STOP IT. Show [1733] this card to all Players Now. If anyone hasthe ‘DON'T STOP YET’ card, they can play it now. If no one plays ‘Don'tStop Yet’ then each player (including you) gets at most one more turnafter your current turn.” {turn limit 2014}, “DON'T STOP YET. If anyonedraws the ‘STOP IT’ card, then you can play this card to continue theoriginal game. Or not—you choose. Meanwhile, keep this in your privatestock. Do it right after STOP IT is played, or else not at all.” {turnlimit 2014}, “Trade all game items with another Player” {exchange item2024}, “Gently restart yourself. All of your game items go back to wherethey were at the beginning of the original game: money/assets go back tothe bank, your score goes back to zero, your cards get shuffled backinto the draw pile, etc. Each board piece goes to any valid initialposition, unless that would displace another piece—if so, put it asclose to an initial position as you can.” {restore item 2030}, “Gentlyrestart another. Choose another Player. Their game items all go back towhere they were at the beginning of the original game: money/assets goback to the bank, score goes back to zero, their cards get shuffled backinto the draw pile, etc. Their board piece(s) go to any valid initialposition you choose, unless that would displace another piece—if so,they go as close to an initial position as possible.” {restore item2030}, “Firmly restart yourself. All of your game items go back to wherethey were at the beginning of the original game: money/assets go back tothe bank, your score goes back to zero, your cards get shuffled backinto the draw pile, etc. Each board piece goes to any valid initialposition. If that displaces another piece, that piece goes to any validinitial position chosen by its owner, and so on.” {restore item 2030},“Firmly restart another. Choose another Player. Their game items all goback to where they were at the beginning of the original game:money/assets go back to the bank, score goes back to zero, their cardsget shuffled back into the draw pile, etc. Each board piece goes to anyvalid initial position you choose. If that displaces another piece, thatpiece goes to any valid initial position chosen by its owner, etc.”{restore item 2030}, “Gently restart your item. One of your game itemsgoes back to where it was at the beginning of the original game: 1bill/1 asset goes back to the bank, your score goes back to zero, 1 ofyour cards is shuffled back into the draw pile, etc. Or 1 board piecegoes to any valid initial position, unless that would displace anotherpiece.” {restore item 2030}, “Firmly restart another's item. Chooseanother Player and 1 of their game items. It goes back to where it wasat the beginning of the original game: 1 bill/1 asset goes back to thebank, score goes back to zero, 1 of their cards is shuffled back intothe draw pile, etc. Or 1 of their board pieces goes to any valid initialposition you choose. If that displaces another piece, that piece goes toany valid initial position chosen by its owner, etc.” {restore item2030}, “Trade one game item with another Player. You choose the Player,and you also choose both items. In games like chess where each game itemcan only belong to one player, take 2 turns instead.” {exchange item2024, turn count 2010}, “Take one game item from another Player. Youchoose the Player, but they choose which item you must take. In gameslike chess where each game item can only belong to one player, capturetheir item instead, but the capture cannot end the game.” {take item2022}, and combinations of all or of punctuation-delimited portions ofthe foregoing, and with or without a segment 1712. Note than a giveninstruction 800 may belong to more than one category, e.g., manyinstructions include taking or losing a turn {turn count 2010} as anoption or penalty in one portion and in another portion include anotherinstruction in a different category than turn count. Each portion may beviewed as a sub-instruction; instructions 800 may be adjoined orconditioned on one another or otherwise composed to form largerinstructions 800.

In some examples, modified play occurs as follows. The original game isset up 1002 as usual. A shuffled stack of Do It™ cards 602 is placed1773 face down; this is the draw pile 1724. Before a player takes 1008their turn in the original game, the player draws 1106 one card eitherfrom the Do It™ card draw pile or if they wish they can choose a Do It™card instead from their own stock 1720 of Do It™ cards whose values arehidden from the other players—these will be cards whose segments 1712are either “Do it Later” or else “Do it Now or Later”. Failure to draw1106 a Do It™ card from the draw pile or one's own stock (evident when aplayer skips step 1106 and takes 1008 a turn in the original gameinstead) is penalized by loss of the original game turn if any otherplayer points out the failure after the player makes a move in theoriginal game. If the player draws 1106 a null Do It™ card, then theplayer simply proceeds to take 1008 their turn in the original game.Null cards will never be taken from a player's own stock because they donot say “Later” and therefore never enter any player's stock. (In somevariations, Charm cards and/or other Sayings 2034 cards—including nullcards—are kept in the player's stock 1720 until they are redeemed 1722by being pulled 1106 from stock 1720 as a group of the necessary sizefor redemption and then discarded 1726 to a discard pile 1728). If theplayer draws a non-Null card from the Do It™ card draw pile or choosesinstead to play a Do It™ card from their stock, then the instructions onthat Do It™ card are followed 1108 (in some variations, the pulledcard(s) 602 are the cards that must be played, either by following theirinstruction 800 or by placing them in the player's stock 1720 forpossible later use when later use if permitted by their segment if anyand the rest of their instruction). If the card says “Do it Later” thenit is placed 1718 in the player's stock and the instructions arepostponed. If the card says “Do it Now or Later” then at the player'soption it is either played 1108 now or else placed 1718 in the player'sstock to be played later if not discarded. Played Do It™ cards go 1726face up on a discard pile 1728 next to the draw pile 1724. When the drawpile is empty, reshuffle 1102 the discard pile and it becomes the drawpile. If the player still has a turn after any played Do It™ card'sinstructions are followed 1108, then the player proceeds to take 1008that turn in the original game. If the instructions give the player twoturns, that means two turns of the original game—a second Do It™ card isnot drawn 1106 unless explicitly required by the instruction 800 that isbeing followed.

Play proceeds this way until the original game ends. Then in thisexample all Do It™ cards left in player's stocks must be played, inturn, with the instructions followed 1108. This may dramatically alterthe outcome of the original game. For example, an instruction toexchange 1730 all game items 1732 means exchanging ALL original gameitems, including for example game pieces wherever they sit, all pointsand other assets acquired during the game, and all Do It™ cards in theplayer's possession (including without limitation the “You Just Can'tWin” card).

Some Additional Observations from Do It™ Card Examples

Original games 102 include card games, dice games, board games, tilegames, guessing games, games that use equipment 100 such as preprintedboards or cards or score sheets or drawing pads or spinners, gamesprimarily or entirely of chance, games primarily or entirely ofstrategy, solitaire games, two-player games, games of variable number ofplayers, games for children, games for adults, and games for people ofvarious ages, for example. As noted in some Do It™ card 602 examples,original games 102 generally have players 904 taking turns and oftenhave them also using/possessing items during play; the play followsrules 104 defining moves, win criteria, and lose criteria. Examples suchas the Do It™ cards 602 provide instructions which modify original gameplay by reordering, reassigning, relocating, suspending, and/orrepeating mechanisms 206. For instance, the normal order of turn-takingcan be re-ordered {turn order 2012}, item possession can be re-assigned{possession 2032}, turn-taking can be suspended or repeated {turn count2010}, and so on. As to relocation, in Do It™ cards directedspecifically at board games, an instruction 800 may be to move one's ownpiece 1 space, or move another player's piece 1 space {possession 2032},or to move a piece 2, 3, or more spaces. Another form of relocationwould be to make visible to all players the hidden value of a game item(a stock Do It™ card or a face-down original game card) or viceversa—hide a visible value {reveal item 2028}.

Some examples described operate primarily or solely as modifications ofthe play of one original game 102. In some other examples, a secondarygame 102 is also added, so that two games 102—each with distinct pieces100 and/or distinct rules 104 for winning—are played concurrently andone or both of the original and secondary game are subject toinstructions 800 found on the played Do It™ cards {yoked games 2004}.That is, one may have both concurrent games and a game bender (e.g., DoIt™ card deck) in play.

In a variation, players may agree to remove 1102 “trade seat” cards{seating 2008} from play or to treat them as Null cards, when it isdifficult or inconvenient to change 1738 seats 1740 during play.However, even when one retains possession of all one's game items,looking at a game board from another seat 1740 can provide new insights.Trading 1738 seats 1740 also injects social interaction as people'sclosest neighbors change.

Some Material and Printing Considerations

Do It™ cards 602 may be implemented 1742 as cards on card stock paper,similar in material to familiar tarot or playing cards or cards used incollectible card games. They may be the same size as familiar cards, orsmaller, e.g., the size of business cards. They may also be implemented1742 in digital form through software 610 and/or software 612. PrototypeDo It™ cards, Bend A Card™ cards, and Bejinx™ cards have been created1742 using files similar (reformatted) or identical to those illustratedin the referenced application 61/984,834 or in the expressly encloseddrawing sheets; the text was laser-printed onto 2″×4″ white shippinglabels (Avery® 5163), trimmed by hand with scissors, and then adhered toblank play card stock; regular playing cards could also have been usedas stock paper. Some subsequent prototypes are laser-printed ontoletter-sized card stock with 8 or 10 cards per sheet, using stock suchas 62 lb. or 105 lb. cover stock, with one pass per side to provide arepeating Bejinx™ logo pattern on the card backs and graphic designedfronts with text and images, and then cut apart manually from othercards on the sheet and manually cut to have 5 mm rounded corners. Ofcourse, other printing sheet sizes, cutting techniques (e.g., die-cut,machine-cut, perforated pre-cut), color vs. gray-scale vs.black-and-white ink, card sizes, and the like may also be used in making1742 prototypes and/or commercial embodiments and/or in customizing 1744individual cards 602 (some decks 600 include blank cards orfill-in-the-blank instruction 800 templates to facilitate customization1744).

An Example Immediate Play Card Deck

As noted, some game modification examples include a deck 600 of Do It™cards 602 which are characterized in that they contain instructions 800for modifying the play 204 of an original game 102 and also offer timeperiods 1712 in which to follow those instructions, e.g., “Do it now”,“Do it Now or Later”, and/or “Do it Later”. Cards 602 with a “Now orLater” can be followed immediately or placed in a player's personalstock 1720 and then followed during a later turn; cards with a “Later”option placed in a player's personal stock to be followed during a laterturn unless circumstances intervene, e.g., they might be discarded. Incontrast, some other example decks 600 do not include a “Now or Later”option or a “Later” option, and no cards are placed in a player'spersonal stock to be played during a later turn. These are referred toherein as “Immediate Play” examples. Some Immediate Play examplesinclude cards; a game modification card deck for one Immediate Playexample is illustrated in sheets 15 through 18 of the drawing figures ofthe application 61/984,834 and other examples are formed by omittingtime periods 1712 from instructions so that every period is implicitly“Now”, or by explicitly making every period “Now”. Note that “Deck” (asin “deck 600”) does not require a card deck; as noted elsewhere, gamemodification instructions for Immediate Play examples may be implemented1742 using a spinner or other mechanism which effectively acts as thedeck. Some Immediate Play examples use a spinner instead of, or inaddition to, using a deck of cards to provide the game modificationinstructions. Any other mechanism 206 for displaying instructions 800 ina sequence (which is prearranged, partially random, or fully random)could also be used for modified play 204, so that the instruction 800applying to the current player's turn is clear and the next player inturn receives the next instruction 800 in the sequence.

Additional Comments on Interpreting Game Modification Instructions

As to trading 1730 items 1732 between two players, the two items 1732need not be the same kind of item. For instance, in a modified versionof the Monopoly® game (mark of Hasbro, Inc.) one item 1732 could be aproperty deed 510 and the other could be a $100 bill 508, or one item1732 could be a Get Out of Jail Free card 516 and the other could be ahotel 514. Note this allows a set of properties to be held by two ormore players after the properties have been developed with houses orhotels—rent goes to the owner of the individual property landed on. Orone item could be a $50 bill and the other could be a Do It™ card orother game modification card. However, the top hat, car, and otherpieces 506 identified with a specific player are not subject to tradeunless the game modification instruction 800 is to trade all game items.

As another example of circumstances in which the modified game can reachcircumstances not allowed in the original game, a player of modifiedTicket To Ride® (mark of Days of Wonder, Inc.) might have no destinationcards 1732 during modified play 204. Actions likely to fail inunmodified play may also succeed in modified play 204. In checkers, forexample, when a player receives two turns per a game modificationinstruction, the player could use the first turn to move next to anopposing player's piece 306 and then use the second turn to leap thatpiece, thereby capturing it. In unmodified play, the opposing playerwould have an intervening turn and would likely use it to leap the firstplayer's piece instead of being leaped.

In some variations, the Do It™ cards in players' private stocks 1720 arelaid out face up, instead of being kept hidden from the other players.In some, a player can have at most a specific maximum number of Do It™cards 602 in their private stock at any given time.

In some examples for display on a web browser 926, for use in limitedphysical spaces, and/or for use by young children, all cards that haveNow, Now or Later, or Later options 1712 are instead implicitly orexplicitly Now (a.k.a., immediate play instructions 800). On websitegameware 920, for example, a user 904 presses a “Draw a Do It™ card”button or simply watches a rotating display (e.g., an animated GIF file)and sees in the browser the next card or spinner instruction 800 in adeck of game modification instructions.

Some examples contain the following kinds of instructions 800: Take 2turns, Take 3 turns, Take 4 turns, Skip your turn, Give any other playeryour turn, Give the player on your left (or right) your turn, The Playeron your left gets 2 turns {each of these being a turn count 2010instruction}, Trade all game items, Trade 1 game item (you choose bothitems/they choose both items/you each choose own item to give/you eachchoose item to take), Name 2 other players to trade all game items, Name2 other players to trade 1 game item (you choose both items/they eachchoose own item to give/they each choose item to take) {each of thesebeing an exchange item 2024 instruction}, Gently restart yourself,Firmly restart yourself, Gently restart another player, Firmly restartanother player, Gently restart your item, Firmly restart your item,Gently restart another player's item, Firmly restart another player'sitem {each of these being a restore item 2030 instruction}. Onealternate deck is shown as Bend A Game™ Demo App cards on application61/984,834 drawing sheets 15 through 18. Instead of a card format, someexamples that do not involve player stocks (because they have no Lateror Now or Later options) are presented to players as instruction choicesmade by a spinner.

Gravel Cards/Instructions

Many examples herein are designed to modify a plurality of games 102,e.g., some can modify many if not all card games 102, and some canmodify many if not all board games 102. Indeed, some examples can modifynot only many different games 102 but also can modify several differentkinds 1769 of games, e.g., board games and card games and dice games andtile games (e.g., dominoes, Rummikub® (mark of Micha Hertzano)).Examples described here apply to many different games. They are notlimited to modification of a single game, e.g., to modification ofbilliards, or modification of croquet, or modification of golf, ormodification of poker, or modification of twenty-one. A given deck 600of game modification instructions 800 can be usefully, and enjoyably,applied to modify many different games 102, and to different kinds 1769of games 102.

Nonetheless, some types of modifications merit comment with regard tosome kinds 1769 of games. As to some examples, “Gravel Cards” are Do It™cards, Bend A Game™ cards, Bejinx™ cards, or other game modificationinstruction decks or deck portions that are not directly applicable to aparticular category of original games, or if applied directly wouldreveal hidden information whose secrecy the original game relies on forsuspense. In some examples, one or more of the following options is usedas a mechanism 206 to manage 1746 certain gravel instructions 1748:

1. Gravel cards (cards bearing gravel instructions 1748) go intoplayer's private stock 1720. After the original game ends, in the courseof playing the stock(s) of game modification cards, gravel cards countthus: 20 gravel cards will let you discard You Just Can't Win it you ownit, 40 gravel cards will let you move You Just Can't Win to the playerto your right, and 60 gravel cards will let you move You Just Can't Winto any player. These numbers are subject to adjustment, by players ofcourse and also by authorized vendors of examples.2. Gravel Cards are treated like Null Cards. They are discarded 1726immediately after being pulled from a draw pile, and they never go intoprivate stock.3. Gravel cards are converted to something similar that does apply,e.g., in 2-player original games under modification, “Name 2 otherPlayers” becomes “Name Any 2 Players Including Yourself”, etc.4. Gravel cards are all treated like a card that is easy to remember andmakes sense, e.g., “Take 2 turns”. Alternatively, a more flexibleapproach is to compose the gravel instruction with such an instruction,allowing (or requiring) players to follow the gravel instruction whenpossible and having them otherwise follow a universally applicablealternative instruction (e.g., a turn count 2010 instruction).5. Gravel cards are removed 1102 from the deck before play. Moregenerally, in preparing 1102 the game modification equipment 202 playersmay add or remove Do It™ cards, Bend A Game™ cards, Bejinx™ cards, orother game modification instruction cards to a deck to customize it asthey see fit. Players may also trade cards and/or treat them ascollectible items outside any modified game. In some commercialexamples, different decks 600 may include different specific cards. Forexample, one promotional deck contains a Charm card not found in acontemporaneous larger deck that will be available for purchase.

Some specific examples of gravel cards with respect to particular kindsof games are noted below. As to games 102 that have exactly 2 players,e.g., chess, checkers, Battleship® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), gravelinstructions include those implicated by “Name 2 other Players”,“Players take turns this way”. As to games 102 in which all originalitem values are secret, e.g., Stratego® (mark of Koninklijke Jumbo B.V.Corporation), Battleship®, gravel instructions include those implicatedby “Trade all game items”. Alternately, this is not a Gravel Card andeach Player's memory will be challenged as they try to remember thevalues of pieces that used to be theirs. As to games 102 that haveexactly 1 player, e.g., solitaire versions of games, gravel instructionsinclude those implicated by “Skip a turn”, “Take 2 turns”, “Give yourturn to another Player”, “Trade seats”, “Name 2 other Players”, “Tradeall game items”, “Trade 1 game item”, “Take 1 Do It™ card”, “Move “YouJust Can't Win” card”, “Players take turns this way”, “Any otherPlayer”, “Restart another”. As to games 102 in which all original gameitems are permanently assigned to a single Player when original gamestarts, e.g., by color coding, e.g., Stratego®, chess, checkers, Chinesecheckers, gravel instructions include those implicated by trading anoriginal game item, e.g., “Trade 1 game item will mean trade 1 Do It™card; alternatively, in games 102 such as Othello, where a piece can betraded by flipping it to change its visible color, items may be tradedby reassigning their ownership. As to games 102 in which hidden valueitems are unwieldy to transport when players trade seats, e.g.,Scrabble® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), Rummikub®, “trade seat” instructionscould be gravel, or not, depending on the acceptable level ofinconvenience versus the perceived novelty and social interaction effectof seat trades. As to games 102 in which the players are the boardpieces, e.g., Twister® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), “Trade all game items”and “Trade seats” can be interpreted as gravel instructions, or asswapping positions; “Trade 1 item” can be interpreted as gravel, or asswapping position of a single hand or a single foot. As to games 102having multiplayer teams, e.g., Guesstures® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.), onecan interpret “Player” to mean team. As to piece-capture games 102,e.g., checkers, chess, “Firmly/gently restart yourself/another”instructions can make these games last much longer—maybe too long, soone may remove 1102 them before play or treat them as nulls or as extraturns.

Some “You Just Can't Win” Card Observations

In some examples only a single You Just Can't Win (YJCW) type {wincaveat 2018} card is in the game modification deck 600, while in otherexamples such as group decks for games with three or more players, morethan one YJCW card is in the deck. Some examples include no YJCW typecard. In some examples YJCW is designed to serve as an undesirable cardthat gets passed between teams (a team has one or more players). Atleast one team must be able to win, however, so YJCW functionalityexcludes the possibility that every team will possess YJCW at the sametime.

Tile-Laying or Pattern-Completion Instruction Cards

In some embodiments, a deck 600 of game modification cards includescards 602 with image portions which collectively form 1750 an image thatis discernibly complete when all of its component cards 602 are laidtogether in the correct position relative to one another. Patterncompletion 1754 is a mechanism category 1716, although it is notincluded in FIG. 20 due to space limitations. Completion 1750 of theimage or other pattern 1752 is rewarded 1722 by extra turns, avoidanceof undesired swaps, extra draws, avoidance of lost turns, and/or otherbenefits that are subject to game modification. The number of suchpattern-completion game instruction cards 1754 needed for a givenpattern may be 2, 3, or 4, for example, in a particular deck 600, or itmay be larger.

Group Games

Group games are games 102 with three or more players. In some examples,game modification decks 600 for group games include certain instructions800 that are excluded from game modification decks for two-player games.Excluded instructions may be instructions for a team merge {merge/splitteam 2038}, a turn order change {turn order 2012}, joining the winningteam {merge/split team 2038}, action in various categories 1716involving a team on your left or a team on your right or “any twoteams”, actions in various categories 1716 in which a player choosesanother team or chooses any team, cloning YJCW {win caveat 2018}, and/oruse of more than 1 YJCW per deck {win caveat 2018}, for example.

Some Processes for Generating Game Modification Instructions

With the examples provided herein, and the teachings herein, gamemodification instructions 800 can be generated 1756 in various ways. Notleast of these teachings is the teaching that play of an original gamecan be modified using instructions such as yoked game instructions 2004that apply to multiple games; such instructions are examples of“game-agnostic” game modification instructions.

One approach to generating 1756 game modification instructions is todirectly apply 1758 existing game-agnostic instructions to theparticular game 102 at hand, in the same manner that these game-agnosticinstructions are applied to modify other original games 102. Forexample, game modification instructions 800 giving extra turns ordenying a turn {turn count 2010} can be applied in the same way to manydifferent games (other than solitaire games). Likewise, You Just Can'tWin {win caveat 2018} and Stop It and Don't Stop Yet {turn limit 2014}game modification instructions 800 can be applied 1758 in the same wayto many different games without taking game-specific rules 104 orgame-specific items 100 into account.

Another approach is to tailor 1760 game-agnostic instructions toparticular game items 100 of the original game 102 in question. Forexample, tailoring a game-agnostic game modification instruction to give1734 another player an original game item yields specific mechanisminstances 206 in modified Monopoly® play of giving 1734 another player ahouse 512, giving 1734 another player a property card 510, and giving1734 another player one's largest bill 508.

Another approach is to adapt 1762 game-agnostic instructions to aparticular role 106 of the original game in question, such as the Bankrole 106 in Monopoly® play or the Board role 106 in Pandemic™ (mark ofZ-Man Games, Inc.) play. Thus, a game-agnostic game modificationinstruction to give 1734 another player an original game item hasspecific mechanism instances 206 in modified Monopoly® play of giving1734 a house 512 back to the Bank, giving 1734 a property card 510 backto the Bank, and giving 1734 one's largest bill 508 back to the Bank.Similarly, in one modified version of Pandemic™ board game play, theBoard does not take 1008 turns as a Player but it does own the followingBoard items 100 as a quasi-player: disease cubes, infection cards,epidemic cards, outbreak counter, and infection rate marker. So agame-agnostic game modification instruction which involves itemownership {give item 2020, take item 2022, exchange item 2024,possession 2032}, reveal/hide {reveal/hide item 2028}, time jump{restore item 2030}, or in/out of play {in/out play 2040} can involveone or more Board items.

Another approach to generating 1756 game modification instructions 800is to alter 1764 rules 104 that are specific to the original game inquestion. For example, rules in some games call for players to hold aspecific number of items at the end of each turn, e.g., seven lettertiles should normally be in the player's rack in Scrabble® play and sixcards should normally be in the player's hand in Mille Bornes® play.Game modification instructions 800 may alter the number of itemspermitted {hand size 2002}, e.g., allowing a player to have up to nineScrabble® tiles or only five Mille Bornes® cards at the end of theirturn.

Another approach to generating 1756 game modification instructions 800is to add 1766 the paired complement 1768 of an existing gamemodification instruction. Some resulting example instructions 800include both complements 1768 of a pair 1770 while others include onlyone instruction embodying one of the complements of a complementarypair. Some examples of complementary pairs 1770 include: give/take{2020/2022}, at start/at current {2030}, hidden/visible {2028},players/bank (roles 106), required/prohibited,clockwise/counterclockwise {2012}, player who pulled 1106 instructionchooses/other player chooses, and maximum/minimum.

Game modification instructions may also suspend 1764 a rule 104. Forexample, Battleship®, Stratego® and other games have a rule that some orall of a player's items are hidden from the other player. In someversions of modified game play 204, this rule may be suspended, e.g., byinstructing a player to reveal one or more hidden items {2028}, or byinstructing a player to trade {2024} all game items with another player.

Some Game Modification Instruction Categories and Characteristics

As to game modification instruction categories 1716, additionalobservations applicable in some embodiments are provided below. Due tothe filing of provisional applications along the way during development,expansion, and refinement of the technology described herein,terminology varies herein. However, use of the same reference numeralherein with different terminology links the different terminologies andassociated concepts and features together, since they collectively referto the step or object or attribute designated by the reference numeralthey share. For instance, the category designated by reference numeral2030 is termed both “Restore Item” and “Time Jump” so the discussion ofthat category 2030 includes the discussion of Restore Item instructionsand cards as well as the discussion of Time Jump instructions and cards.Note also that these categories are exemplary, not comprehensive orotherwise intended to contain every game modification instruction 800.

Turn Count 2010 instructions give a player or team one or more extraturns or turn portions in the original game, or cause them to lose partor all of their current turn in the original game.

Item Ownership instructions 2020, 2022, 2024, and/or 2032 changeownership, of one or more game modification cards 602 and/or one or moreitems 1732 of original game equipment 100. For example, one player orteam may be instructed to give 1734 one or more items to another playeror team, to take 1736 one or more items from another player or team, orto swap (a.k.a. trade) 1730 one or more items with another player orteam. One subset of the Item Ownership instructions includesinstructions directed at a special role 106 in the game, e.g., aquasi-player, such as the Bank in Monopoly® play or the Board inPandemic™ board game play.

Full Swap instructions are a sub-category which relates to the ItemOwnership instructions, but include board tokens, scores, and hiddenstrategic pattern information such as flag placement in Stratego® gamesand ship placement in Battleship® games; such items representing aplayer or team are not covered by Item Ownership in some configurations.Full swap instructions swap all game items 1732, including scores, boardtokens, in addition to all assets or liabilities such as money, resourcecards, promissory notes, etc.

Another category which relates to the Item Ownership instructions isTemporary Possession 2032 instructions. These game modificationinstructions permit or require one team or player to behave within theduration of a turn 1006 as if it owns an original game item of anotherteam or player, e.g., by discarding or playing that item (after a blindchoice of item if all candidate items are hidden), by choosing whichoriginal game item the actual owner must play or discard or move, or bymoving the other team's token on the board. Some examples includefunctional text such as: “Take an extra turn for the Player to yourright using their items any way they could have used them. Then takeyour turn.”, “Take an extra turn for any other Player using their itemsany way they could have used them. But lose your own turn.”.

Reveal/Hide Item 2028 instructions cause a player or team to reveal (orhide) a hidden (or visible) item such as a facedown (face up) card ortile, or a card or tile in the player's hand that is normally hiddenfrom (visible to) the other players in the unmodified original game.Some examples include: “Show 1 hidden item to the Team to your right.You choose which item to reveal. If none of your items are hidden, take2 turns in the original game instead of one.”, “Show 2 hidden originalgame items to the Team to your left. You choose which items to reveal.If none of your items are hidden, take 2 turns in the original gameinstead of one.”

Time Jump 2030 instructions may include a regress/restart instructionwhich causes one or more items to return to the location and status theyhad at the beginning of the original game, or to something closelyapproximating that location and status. Some examples include acomplementary instant progress instruction which causes one or moreoriginal game items to instantly move from a beginning location andstatus to something closely approximating the location and status ofanother original game item.

In/Out of Play 2040 instructions move an original game item betweenin-play and out-of-play status. Some examples include moving a card ortile between a discard pile and a draw pile or between a discard pileand a player's hand, moving a Pandemic™ board game epidemic card betweenthe player draw pile and the collection of out-of-play items, movingMonopoly® Community Chest or Chance cards between those respective drawpiles and a collection of out-of-play items.

Turn Order 2012 items can change the order in which players or teamstake turns when three or more players or teams are playing. Some turnorder instructions include a circular arrow and text to the effect thatthe arrow indicates the turn order. Some turn order instructions 800include two circular arrows (one clockwise, one counterclockwise) andtext to the effect that player should cover one arrow and the otherarrow—the visible arrow—then indicates the turn order.

Winning Condition or Winning Caveat 2018 instructions (e.g., YJCW,Stumbles) impose or remove a prohibition against winning that overridesthe result of the original game 102. YJCW stands for You Just Can't Win,but winning condition instructions can also be signified by other wordsor phrases or symbols or images or sounds. Some examples include acomplementary You Need Me (YNM) instruction card or functionally similarcard which must be possessed in order to win, regardless of the originalgame's outcome. Some include cards for avoiding the effect of a YJCW orStumbles card, either once or multiple times. Some embodiments includeat most one active YJCW card per game, while others permit more than oneplayer to be subject to YJCW at the same time as long as it is clear whowould win, e.g., if all players have YJCW then the original game winneris also the final winner and otherwise the highest-scoring orfarthest-ahead player without any YJCW is the final winner even ifanother player did better in the original game but has YJCW.

Some examples of Stumbles cards instructions include: “THREE STUMBLESShow to all Players. Final Winner is Team with least stumbles, or withzero stumbles and the best result in the original game.”, “Two STUMBLESShow to all Players. Final Winner is Team with least stumbles, or withzero stumbles and the best result in the original game.”, “You can movea STUMBLES card to a different Player, or else take 1 extra turn.”, “Ifany STUMBLES cards are showing, then you take one unless you alreadyhave one.”, “ANYTIME AT ALL [1712] No STUMBLES EVER: STUMBLES cards donot apply to you when you show this card. You may show it anytime atall, even if it's not your turn.”, “ANYTIME AT ALL AVOID STUMBLES:Discard a STUMBLES card directed at you, then discard this card.”.

Final Round 2014 instructions impose or remove an ending of play in theoriginal game that is premature under the rules of the unmodifiedoriginal game. Final round instructions are signaled in some of theexamples herein by Stop It! And Don't Stop Now cards, but final roundinstructions can also be signified by other words or phrases or symbolsor images or sounds.

Merge Team 2038 instructions combine players and/or teams in mid-play ofthe modified original game, or split teams apart in mid-game, or let aplayer or team that lost in the original game instantly join the winningteam during the after-game phase in which only game modificationinstruction cards are played. Some examples are: “Merge Any TwoTeams—or—Lose your turn. You choose: Merge or Lose, & which teams. Youcannot merge the final two teams.”, “Merge Right—or—Lose your turn. Youmust merge with the team on your right, unless that would leave only oneteam.”, “After the Original Game You join the Winning Team! Youinstantly join the winning Team, unless you have a ‘YOU JUST CAN'T WIN’card.”

Seating 2008 instructions change the position of players and/or teams ata table without changing the ownership of game items. This may have asubtle impact because some games, such as Scrabble® and Ticket To Ride®are somewhat easier to play when they are right-side up in comparison toa player. Changing seats may also change social interaction becausepeople change who they are sitting next to and thus the opportunitiesfor easy and/or quiet conversation (or other actions) are changed.

Item Count 2002 instructions change the number of items a player or teamis permitted or required to hold in their hand. Examples of values thatmay change include the maximum number of Scrabble® tiles or Rummikub®tiles on a player's rack, the minimum number of Mille Borne® cards in aplayer's hand, the minimum number of Ticket To Ride® destination cards,and the maximum number of crib or player hand cards in cribbage.

Yoked Game 2004 instructions are specific to concurrent play of two ormore games 102 which are each paired with game modification equipment202. One example includes functional language such as “During theoriginal games. Take an extra turn in one game and give another player 3game items in any other game.” Another example is an instruction whichcan be used when one of the yoked games is a Monopoly® game: “Duringyoked Monopoly® games. Move all your houses to another Monopoly® Board.Cash them in if you don't have property for them on the other board.”Other examples include: “You take 2 turns in each board game instead of1 turn in 1 game.”, “Take an extra turn in 1 board game.”, “LATER IN ANORIGINAL GAME [1712]: You take 5 turns, divided among the board gamesany way you choose.”, “STARTING NOW [1712]: Each Bejinx™ card appliesonce in each of the games (multi-use play).”, “Each Bejinx™ card can beapplied to only a single game, unless the card says otherwise(single-use play).”, “Move one piece to a different board. It will bestranded there, or will cost you 1 turn to move back. Or move it on thatboard if the games allow you to.”, “Move 2 pieces to a different board.They will be abandoned there out of play, or cost you 1 turn each tomove back into play.”, “Move another Player's piece to a differentboard. It will be abandoned there out of play, or else cost that Player1 turn to move it back.”

As to game modification instruction characteristics, instructions 800can or must be followed by or include one or more different timesegments 1712 which are defined in terms of immediacy (“now”) and/or theoriginal game's end. Some examples of game modification instruction timesegments 1712 include: Now, Now or later (i.e., in a subsequent turn tothe turn in which the instruction was received by the team or player inquestion) during the original game, Later during the original game,Later anytime (during or after the original game), Anytime (i.e., now orlater during or after the original game), and After the original game.In some examples (including immediate play examples given herein), allgame modification instructions are implicitly or explicitly to befollowed Now.

Relative and absolute frequencies of instructions 800 in a deck 600 arealso game modification instruction characteristics. Frequencies 1774 maybe tailored 1772 for particular circumstances such as the number ofplayers, category of original game, or specific original game. Forexample, in two-player circumstances the frequency of Turn Order 2012and Merge Team 2038 instructions is generally best kept at zero becausethose instructions either have no practical effect (Turn Order) orcannot be implemented (merge would result in a single team, which isundesirable in most games; cooperative games against a virtual opponentsuch as the Pandemic™ board are an exception). As another example, someplayers may prefer a relatively high frequency 1774 of Final Round 2014instructions when modifying familiar games that have a reputation fortaking a long time to play, such as a Risk® game or a Monopoly® game.Examples of game-specific instructions 800 are given elsewhere herein,such as Monopoly® game-modifying instructions regarding houses, largebills, Community Chest cards, Chance cards, or property cards.

Another characteristic is whether a game modification instructionpertains only to one or two players or teams, or instead pertains to allplayers and teams. An example is whether two players trade all gameitems or whether all players trade all game items when everyone gets upand moves one seat to their right. Another example is whether a singleplayer discards an item (game modification instruction card or originalgame item), or instead all players each discard an item. Another exampleis whether a player/team receives or takes an item from one otherplayer/team, or instead receives or takes an item from each otherplayer/team.

A Partial List of Compatible Original Games

Original games 102 listed below are currently believed to be among thegames that are compatible with card 602 decks 600 and spinner 604 decks,and other game modification examples. Omission does not implyincompatibility. Not all of these games have been play-tested;compatibility may be inferred in some cases from knowledge of a game'srules and equipment and of the teachings herein.

Abalone® (mark of Abalone Corporation); Apples to Apples® (mark ofMattel, Inc.); At least some parlor games, e.g., Twister®, charades,Tiddlywinks; Backgammon; Battleship® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Board gamesgenerally; Card games generally including without limitation playingcard games and deck-building games; Carcasonne® (mark of Hans im GluckVerlags-GmbH), Cards Against Humanity® (mark of Cards Against Humanity,LLC); Checkers; Chess; Chinese checkers; Cribbage; Dice games generally;Dominion® (mark of Rio Grande Games, Inc.); Dominoes; Go; Guesstures®(mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Hopscotch; Jenga® (mark of Pokonobe Associates);Mancala; Marbles; Mille Bornes® (mark of DuJardin SAS Corporation);Mikado® (mark of Johsho Korea Co. Ltd.); Monopoly® (mark of Hasbro,Inc.); Pente® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Pick-up sticks; Risk® (mark ofHasbro, Inc.); Rook® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Rummikub® (mark of MichaHertzano); Scrabble® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Settlers of Catan® (mark ofCatan GmbH); Sorry® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Stratego® (mark ofKoninklijke Jumbo B.V. Corporation); Ticket To Ride® (mark of Days ofWonder, Inc.); Tile games generally; Tile-laying games generally;Trivial Pursuit® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Twister® (mark of Hasbro,Inc.); UPWORDS® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.); Yahtzee® (mark of Hasbro, Inc.),and any other game 102 specifically identified herein.

Some Game Modification Instruction Syntax Structures

Syntactic structures followed by instructions 800 in some examples canbe memorialized in a Backus-Naur Form (BNF), for example; othersyntactic formalisms and descriptions 1778 can also be used. An exampleneed not contain every possible terminal expression of the syntacticstructure 1778 it follows, although some examples do. BNF and othersyntax descriptions help game modification implementers avoidoverlooking 1776 possibilities for game modification instructions whenbuilding 1742 an instructions card deck or adding 1772 instructions to agame modification spinner, for example. Exploring 1776 an instructions800 syntax description 1778 may reveal combinations of instructionterminal values that were previously overlooked. The instructionpatterns captured in BNF and other syntax descriptions 1778 also helpprovide players of modified games with a sense of order; the rules 104of their beloved original games are merely perturbed, they are notdestroyed or lost in chaos. Syntax descriptions 1778 herein do notnecessarily conform entirely with formal rules for BNF, but are insteadmerely BNF-based in that they include portions consistent with BNFnotation. Those of skill will also understand that many subsets of agiven description 1778 also serve as instruction 800 descriptions 1778in their own right.

In this context, one BNF-based description 1778 for some instructions800 is the following:

<Bejinks™ equipmentset>::=<spinner><instructions>|<cards><instructions><instructions>::=<instructions>|<instructions><instruction><instruction>::=<regular instruction>|<specialinstruction>|<game-specific-instruction><catchall><specialinstruction>::=Clockwise-Turn-Order|Counterclockwise-Turn-Order|YouChoose TurnOrder|You-Just-Can't-Win|Stop-It|Don't-Stop-Now|Here's-the-Deal|No-Deal<regular instruction>::=<subject><verb><direct object><indirectobject><object chooser><indirect object chooser><when><catchall><versionID><subject>::=“You” (*the player whose turn it is to follow aninstruction*)|“Everyone”|“Player to your left”|“Player to yourright”|“Another Player”|“Any Player”|same but with Team instead ofPlayer<verb>::=“trade”|“take”|“give”|“restart”|“regress”|“skip”|“discard”|“merge”|“clone”|“show”or “reveal”<direct object>::=<quantity><specific direct objects><quantity>::=“one”|“two”|“up to two”|“three”|“up to three”|“four”|“up tofour”|“all”<specific direct objects>::=“turn”|“original game item”|“Bejinks™card”|“any game item”|“seats but not game items” or “table position”<indirect object>::=<subject>|<direct object>| “ ”<direct object chooser>::=Text stating who chooses the direct object,e.g., “You choose”|“They choose”<indirect object chooser>::=Text stating who chooses the indirectobject, e.g., “You choose”|“They choose”<when>::=“ ” (* implicit Now *)|→“Now” |→“Now or Later Before OriginalGame End”|→“Later Before Original Game End”|→“Later Anytime”|→“Now orLater Anytime”|“During the original game”|“After the original game”<catchall>::=Text as needed to clarify certain instructions, e.g., firmrestart vs gentler send back<version ID>::=Bejinks™ Basic Deck <version number>|Bejinks™ BoosterPack for <original game><version number><original game>::=“Backgammon”|“Battleship® (mark of Hasbro,Inc.)|“Blackjack”|“ ”Bridge”|“Checkers”|“Chess”| . . .<game-specific-instruction>::=<Monopoly®-specific instruction>| . . .<Monopoly®-specific instruction>::=trade/give/take property|bankstakes/puts Chance/Community Chest cards out-of/into play|takeChance/Community Chest card|money transfers|bank halves/doubles yourmoney|bank takes your property(ies)/houses|take/give largest bill<catchall>::=any of: trade all game items with another player {2024},change the possession {2020, 2022, 2024, 2006} of a You Just Can't Winor functionally similar winning condition card {2018}, use another cardto undo a You Just Can't Win or Stumbles or functionally similar winningcondition card {2018}, use another card to clone or avoid a You JustCan't Win or Stumbles or functionally similar winning condition card{2018}, two players trade {2024} a game item with each other, restart aplayer {2030}, restart a player's item {2030}, regress an item {2030},change turn order {2012} in mid-game, take an original game item out ofplay {2040} in a manner not stated in the original game's officialrules, return {2030} a player original game item or other player assetto a bank in a manner not stated in the original game's official rules,transfer {2020, 2022, 2024, 1780} an original game item or other playerasset between players in a manner not stated in the original game'sofficial rules, reassign {2008} player table positions in a manner notstated in the original game's official rules, merge {2038} playersand/or teams in a manner not stated in the original game's officialrules, skip {2010} an original game turn in a manner not stated in theoriginal game's official rules, take one or more extra original gameturns {2010} in a manner not stated in the original game's officialrules, double {2032} an original game cash holding or other player assetin a manner not stated in the original game's official rules, reveal{2028} hidden original game item content to a player in a manner notstated in the original game's official rules, force {2032} a player tocash in an original game item in a manner not stated in the originalgame's official rules, individual player or entire team merges {2038}with winning team, every player/team moves 1 position right/left butleaves all game items behind for the successor to own {2024}, any otheraspect of one or more game modification instructions which is describedtextually and/or in any figure in the present application or any of itspredecessor or successor applications.

In the foregoing, (* and *) are comment delimiters; <specialinstruction> defines some instruction categories 1716; <when> definessome time segments 1712; <catchall> is annotated for this disclosure touse reference numerals corresponding to the Figures; and deal 1780 is amechanism category 1716, although it is not included in FIG. 20 due tospace limitations.

Some Booster Pack Observations

Some game modification card examples include a basic deck 600 with zeroor more optional booster packs 600. The basic deck is compatible with awider variety of games 102 than any of the booster packs, whereas thebooster packs contain instructions for a particular game or type ofgame. The booster pack instructions can be game-specific instances ofbasic deck instructions 800, e.g., a Monopoly® game booster pack mayinclude instructions to give or take a house or a property card, whichare instances of basic deck instructions to give or take an originalgame item. Booster pack instructions may also refer to roles 106 notfound in the broader set of games and hence not referenced in basic deckinstructions, e.g., not every game has a banker but the Monopoly® gamedoes, so instructions 800 referring to a banker are omitted from a basicdeck and included in a booster pack for the Monopoly® game, in somecircumstances. Some illustrative instruction 800 text from an exampleBooster Pack for Monopoly® play is shown below; arrows indicate timesegments 1712: “You give 1 property card to any Player you choose. Theychoose which card. Monopolies can be split. Any houses or hotels staywith the property.”, “You take 1 property card from any Player youchoose. You choose which card. Monopolies can be split. Any houses orhotels stay with the property.”, “You give 1 property card to any Playeryou choose. They choose which card. Monopolies can be split. Any housesor hotels stay with the property.→Now or Later, but before Monopoly®game play ends.”, “You take 2 cards from Community Chest→Now.”, “Playerto your right takes 2 cards from Chance.→Now.”, “Player to your rightgives you half their money.→Now.”, “The bank takes half yourmoney.→Now.”, “The bank takes back one of your property cards. ThePlayer to your left chooses which card. Monopolies can be split. Anyhouses or hotels on the property also go back to the bank.”, “The banktakes back up to two of your houses. You choose which houses.”, “Thebank takes the top six Chance cards out of play. Or all of them, if lessthan six were in play.”, “All Community Chest cards taken out of play bythe bank are shuffled back in.”, “The bank takes back the largest billof the Player to your right.”, “You take the largest bill of anyPlayer.”, “You give 1 house to any Player you choose. You choose whichhouse.”, “You take 1 house from any Player you choose. They choose whichhouse.”, “You take up to 3 houses from any Player you choose. You choosewhich houses.→Later, but before Monopoly® game play ends.”, “HERE'S THEDEAL Show this card to all Teams Now. Teams can now make deals withother teams, at the beginning of their original game turn. Discard the“NO DEAL” card if one is in effect.”, “NO DEAL Show this card to allTeams Now. Until this card is discarded, Teams may not make any deals totrade original game items with each other. Discard HERE'S THE DEAL ifone is in effect.”

In another example, a deck 600 tailored for enhancing Monopoly® play canbe used either as a booster pack with a basic deck, or as a deck on itsown or as a deck without a basic deck but with one or more booster packsthat are not tailored to Monopoly®. One such example is described thus:

Bejinx™ for Monopoly® (54 card deck) includes: 1 cover/explanationcard—‘These Bejinx™ cards enhance play for any edition of the Monopoly®game. They add fun strategic opportunities, player interactions, andunusual twists to your existing Monopoly® game. All you need is thisdeck of Bejinx™ for Monopoly® cards and your Monopoly® game. For evenmore excitement, add more Bejinx™ cards, from a Bejinx™ Basic Deckand/or from Bejinx™ Booster decks. The Bejinx™ game enhancer and itsmaker Smiling Pines LLC are not endorsed by, sponsored by, or associatedwith, the owner of Monopoly®, which is Hasbro, Inc., or otherwiseaffiliated with any Hasbro product or service. Monopoly® is the propertyof Hasbro, Inc. and all use of the Monopoly® mark by Smiling Pines LLCis merely nominative use which is intended only to convey that Bejinx™for Monopoly® equipment is compatible with Monopoly® equipment forenhanced play. There's no need to sue us, Hasbro. [save for later:Though if you do, we have whalesurfing skills.] For playing tips, andthe rules about houses, hotels, and Monopoly® editions that use cardslabeled something other than “Community Chest” and “Chance”, either seethe insert that came with these Bejinx™ for Monopoly® cards, or visit usat SmilingPines dot com.’

This deck also includes 1 of each of the following cards (semicolondelimits cards), except where indicated in parentheses: NOW You take 3turns instead of 1; NOW You take 2 turns instead of 1; NOW Player onyour left takes a turn instead of you; NOW Player on your right takes aturn instead of you; (2) <Final Round!>; <Undo Final Round!>; NOW Doubleyour roll for this turn; (2) NOW Triple your roll for this turn; NOW Yougive 1 property card to any Player, you choose Player and card; NOW Yougive 1 property card to any Player, you choose Player, they choose card;NOW You take 1 property card from any Player, you choose Player andcard; LATER You take 1 property card from any Player, you choose Player,they choose card; LATER You take 2 cards from Community Chest; ANYTIMEYou take 1 card from Community Chest; LATER You take 2 cards fromChance; ANYTIME You take 1 card from Chance; ANYTIME You choose anotherPlayer to take 1 card from Community Chest; ANYTIME You choose anotherPlayer to take 1 card from Chance; NOW Player to your right takes 1 cardfrom Community Chest; NOW Player to your right takes 1 card from Chance;LATER Player to your right gives you half their money; NOW You givePlayer to your left half your money; NOW Bank takes back your largestbill; NOW Bank doubles your money; NOW Bank takes half your money; NOWYou move any other Player to Free Parking; NOW You move any other Playerto Jail; LATER Bank takes back largest bill of any Player you choose;NOW The bank takes back 1 of your property cards. Player to your leftchooses which card.; NOW Move to any property you choose, then buy it.Unable or unwilling? Lose your turn.; LATER Move to any property youchoose, then buy it. Unable or unwilling? Lose your turn.; NOW The banktakes back up to 2 of your houses. You choose which houses.; NOW Thebank takes back up to 3 of your houses. You choose which houses.; NOWThe bank takes back up to 2 of your houses. Player to your left chooseswhich houses.; NOW The bank takes back up to 3 of your houses. Player toyour right chooses which houses.; (2) NOW Each bankrupted player comesback in with startup cash from Bank and 1 property they choose from eachother player.; (2) NOW Each bankrupted player comes back in with startupcash from Bank and 1 property from each other player, chosen by thatcontributing player.; (2) NOW The bank takes the top nine Chance cardsout of play. Or all of them, if less than nine were in play.; (2) NOWThe bank takes the top nine Community Chest cards out of play. Or all ofthem, if less than nine were in play.; (2) NOW All cards taken out ofplay are shuffled back in.; HERE'S THE DEAL Show this to everyone. Dealscan now be made anytime. Discard any NO DEAL card.; NO DEAL Show this toeveryone. Until this is discarded, no deals can be made. Discard anyHERE'S THE DEAL card.; NOW Take a turn for any other Player, as theycould, but make no deals. Then take your own turn.; LATER Take a turnfor any other Player, as they could, but make no deals. Then take yourown turn.; (2) ANYTIME Discard all Bejinx™ cards of all players.

An <insert> accompanying the deck states something like this: When aMonopoly® game is paired with a Bejinx™ deck, ownership of monopoliescan be split without taking down the buildings on the properties. So aset of properties can be divided two or three players even after theproperties have been developed with houses or hotels; after the monopolyis divided, the rent goes to the owner of whichever individual propertyis landed on. Unless all players agree otherwise up front, developmentis frozen after a monopoly is split; all properties in the monopoly mustagain belong to only one player before development can continue. When aproperty with houses or hotels changes ownership due to a Bejinx™ cardinstruction, the houses/hotels are first cashed in at their normal valueunder Monopoly® rules and that cash remains with the player who isgiving up ownership. Houses and hotels on properties that are notchanging ownership stay in place, and their elevated rents still applyeven though the monopoly was split. When you give a property back to theBank, or when the Bank takes it back, you are not mortgaging theproperty; you do not receive the mortgage value, and if given theopportunity anyone else can buy the property as usual under normalMonopoly® rules. Some Bejinx™ card instructions refer to Community Chestor Chance, but some Monopoly® editions use other names for thoseMonopoly® card piles; use alphabetical ordering to match your Monopoly®set to the Bejinx™ card instructions, e.g., in the National Parksedition the piles in alphabetical order are ‘Battlefield’ then ‘HistoricSite’; the alphabetic order in a classic edition is ‘Chance’ then‘Community Chest’. Thus, Battlefield cards correspond to Chance cardsand Historic Site cards correspond to Community Chest cards. Similarly,in the Looney Tunes edition, ‘Duck Season’ is alphabetically in front of‘Rabbit Season’ so Duck Season cards correspond to Chance cards andRabbit Season cards correspond to Community Chest cards.

Some illustrative instruction 800 text from an example Booster Pack forScrabble® play follows; time segments 1712 associated with theseinstructions state “During the Scrabble® game” or “Now”: “Draw 3 tilesinstead of 1, then put 2 back”, “You are only allowed 6 tiles at a time.Return any extras; You choose which ones.”, “Draw 4 tiles instead of 1,then put 3 back.”, “You are allowed 8 tiles at a time. Draw any extrasnow.”, “Double your score for this turn.”, “Remove any word from theBoard. Score does not change. Tiles go to the draw pile.”, “Turn 3 drawpile tiles face up. They stay that way after your turn.”, “Remove any 2words from the Board. Score does not change. Tiles go to the drawpile.”, “Place a word anywhere on the Board. Even if it does not connectwith any other word.”

In some examples, the following booster pack is present: Bejinx™ Blanks(18 cards 602), including 1 cover/explanation card—‘use with Bejinx™Basic Deck, make your own’; 9 cards of form BEJINX™ <space forwhen><space for instruction> w/ graphic design; 4 cards of form BEJINX™<ANYTIME CHARM><space for saying><full Charm legend> w/ graphic design;and 4 cards of form BEJINX™ <ANYTIME CHARM><space for saying><Charmlegend w/out #s> w/ graphic design.

In some examples, the following booster pack is present: Bejinx™WhaleSurfer™ (18 cards 602) 1 cover/explanation card—‘more fun witheveryone's favorite dude’; 1 BEJINX™ Charm card w/ WhaleSurfer™ image,<blank space for saying><full Charm legend>; 2 BEJINX™ Charm cards w/ aWhaleSurfer™ image depicting a surfer figure riding a whale, “Tossedoverboard, you surface on a whale”; BEJINX™ Charm cards w/ WhaleSurfer™image, “Ahab can't catch you”; 2 BEJINX™ Charm cards w/ WhaleSurfer™image, “You make a whale of a difference”; 2 BEJINX™ Charm cards w/WhaleSurfer™ image, “Having a whale of a time!”; 2 BEJINX™ NOW w/WhaleSurfer™ image, “You take 5 turns instead of 1!”; 2 BEJINX™ NOW w/WhaleSurfer™ image, “You take any 5 Bejinx™ cards from the discardpile!”; 2 BEJINX™ NOW w/WhaleSurfer™ image, “You take any 5 Bejinx™cards from the draw pile!”; 2 BEJINX™ NOW w/ WhaleSurfer™ image, “Chooseany 1: Take an extra turn|Discard any card|Change the turn order|Tripleyour score this turn|Take any discarded item”.

In some examples, the following booster pack is present: Bejinx™ Bits ofEmpty™ (18 cards 602) including 1 cover/explanation card—‘These cardsfunction like Charm cards, but they mention bits of empty instead oflucky things. Why talk about blank stares and other examples of empty?Because most of everything is nothing. So we're celebrating nothing!’;17 BEJINX™ <ANYTIME EMPTY BITS><saying><Empty bits legend> where <Emptybits legend> is like <full Charm legend> but says “Empty Bits” insteadof “Charm”, and <saying> is one of the following: One large goose egg;Schrödinger's cat's mouse; I plead the Fifth; Double diddly squat withno fried turnips; Whatever; Sorry, I got nothing; Nothing to see here;No comment; Zippo; And then there were none; This space intentionallyblank; Unknown unknowns; Nada; Ave Nihilum; Stare into the void (you aregetting sleepy . . . ); A blank stare; Nothing from nothing.

Some modified games 204 are subject to a “no notes” rule which prohibitsplayers 904 from keeping notes, except in their head. This can be anexcellent memory challenge. It can be relaxed or eliminated for youngerplayers.

A Coopetition Example

As noted elsewhere herein, one effect of some deck 600 embodiments is toincrease player interaction during play. In particular, some embodimentsalter player interaction by increasing cooperation opportunities and/orrewards, by increasing competition opportunities and/or rewards, orboth. As a particular example, consider the following deck which may beused alone or as a booster with one or more other decks. The deck'seffects are not limited to increasing player interaction.

Bejinx™ Crazed Coopetition Edition (54 cards 602), including (1)cover/explanation card—‘These Bejinx™ cards make any game into one thatpits competition against cooperation amidst chaos. Of course you stillwant to win, but a player you're competing against one turn might joinyour team on the next turn. Should you push hard and fast to win beforecircumstances change? Or will you be better off helping other playersbecause their gains could become yours instead? Try both to see whatworks best! Strategies involve than game-specific strategies now; thinkabout alliances and ways to adapt when team membership and itemownership are in chaotic flux. Game equipment you'll need includes thisdeck of Bejinx™ cards plus the equipment you already own for any boardgame, card game, tile game, dice game, or parlor game in which playerstake turns. For playing tips, see the insert that came with theseBejinx™ Crazed Coopetition Edition cards, or visit us at SmilingPinesdot com.’

This example deck also includes the following cards, with # instancesindicated in parentheses: (2) NOW Another player takes a turn instead ofyou. You choose who.; (1) LATER Another player takes a turn instead ofyou. You choose who.; (1) NOW You give 1 item to any Player, you choosePlayer and item; (1) NOW You give 1 item to any Player, you choosePlayer, they choose item; (3) NOW Any two players swap all game items.You choose who.; (2) ANYTIME You swap all game items with anotherplayer. You choose who.; (3) NOW Every eliminated player comes back in,with the same value of resources and same board location as the playerto your left, and you take an extra turn.; (2) NOW Take a turn for anyother Player, as they could, but make no deals. Then take your ownturn.; (2) LATER Take a turn for any other Player, as they could, butmake no deals. Then take your own turn.; (2) ANYTIME Take a turn for anyother Player, as they could, but make no deals. Then take your ownturn.; (2) ANYTIME Discard all Bejinx™ cards of all players.; (5) Jinx!cards [they either reflect an action or simply cancel it—Jinx! asserterchooses which]; (2) NOW Merge into the Team on your right, unless thatleaves only 1 team. Skip your turn.; (2) NOW Merge into the Team on yourleft, unless that leaves only 1 team. Skip your turn.; (3) ANYTIMEChange the team membership of 1 other player. You choose who.; (2) LATERFirst player to your left on a multiplayer Team splits from that Team.;(2) LATER First player to your right on a multiplayer Team splits fromthat Team.; (2) NOW Restore any item of another player to how it waswhen the game began. Don't displace any other item.; (2) LATER Restoreany item of another player to how it was when the game began. Don'tdisplace any other item.; (6) All Bejinx™ cards rotate one player to theleft.; (2) All Bejinx™ cards rotate one player to the right.; (1)ANYTIME Take 3 items from any player, or take an extra turn instead.;(2) LATER Take 2 items from any player, or take an extra turn instead.;(1) ANYTIME Another player must reveal 4 hidden items to you, or youtake an extra turn instead.

A Multigaming Example

As noted elsewhere herein, one effect of some deck 600 embodiments is toincrease play complexity. In particular, some embodiments increasecomplexity by yoking together two or more games. As a particularexample, consider the following deck which may be used alone or as abooster with one or more other decks. The deck's effects are not limitedto increasing complexity.

Bejinx™ for Multigamers (54 cards 602), including (1) cover/explanationcard—‘Take gaming to a new level by melding your favorite games into amultigame with Bejinx™ Multigaming cards. Play two or more games atonce! Try Ticket to Ride® plus Dominion®, or King of Tokyo® pluscheckers plus chess, or Pandemic™ plus Risk® (each marks of theirrespective owners), or any of the millions of other possible gamecombinations. You'll make strategic decisions within each game, ofcourse, but you must also decide at each turn which game will bear costssuch as lost items or receive benefits such as extra turns. Eachunderlying game becomes a game piece in the multigame. Bejinx™ forMultigamers cards work with the game equipment you already own for anytwo or more board games, card games, tile games, dice games, and/orparlor games. For playing tips, see the insert that came with theseBejinx™ for Multigamers cards, or visit us at SmilingPines dot com.’

This deck also includes the following cards, with # instances indicatedin parentheses: (1) NOW Take 2 extra turns in one game, and give anotherplayer 3 items in another game. Unable? Lose your turn.; (1) NOW Take 2extra turns in one game, and give another player 2 items in anothergame. Unable? Lose your turn.; (1) NOW Take an extra turn in one game,and give another player 3 items in another game. Unable? Lose yourturn.; (1) NOW Take an extra turn in one game, and give another player 2items in another game. Unable? Lose your turn.; (1) NOW Take an extraturn in one game, and give another player 1 item in another game.Unable? Lose your turn.; (1) ANYTIME Take an extra turn in one game, andgive another player 1 item in another game. Unable? Lose your turn.; (1)ANYTIME Take 5 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1)ANYTIME Take 4 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1)ANYTIME Take 3 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1)LATER Take 5 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1)LATER Take 4 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1)LATER Take 3 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1) NOWTake 5 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1) NOW Take4 turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (1) NOW Take 3turns, divided among the games any way you choose.; (3) STARTING NOWEach Bejinx™ card applies once in each of the games (multi-use play).;(2) STARTING NOW Each Bejinx™ card can be applied to only a single game,unless the card says otherwise (single-use play).; (1) NOW If playingmultiple instances of a game, move up to 2 items between instances.; (1)NOW If playing multiple instances of a game, move up to 3 items betweeninstances.; (1) NOW If playing multiple instances of a game, move up to4 items between instances.; (1) LATER If playing multiple instances of agame, move up to 2 items between instances.; (1) LATER If playingmultiple instances of a game, move up to 3 items between instances.; (1)LATER If playing multiple instances of a game, move up to 4 itemsbetween instances.; (1) NOW Move one piece to a different game. It willbe stranded there, or will cost you 1 turn to move back. Or move itlater in that game if its rules permit.; (1) NOW Move 2 pieces to adifferent game. They will be abandoned there out of play, or cost you 1turn each to move back into play.; (1) LATER Move another Player's pieceto a different game. It will be abandoned there out of play, or elsecost that Player 1 turn to move it back into play.; (1) NOW You take 2turns in each game instead of 1 turn in 1 game.; (1) LATER You take 2turns in each game instead of 1 turn in 1 game.; (1) ANYTIME You take 2turns in each game instead of 1 turn in 1 game.; (2) NOW Roll dice twiceor pull two cards, keep only the roll or pull you like best.; (2) LATERRoll dice twice or pull two cards, keep only the roll or pull you likebest.; (2) ANYTIME Roll dice twice or pull two cards, keep only the rollor pull you like best.; (2) NOW Give 1 of your items to another eachplayer in each game.; (2) LATER Take 1 item from each player in eachgame; they choose the item.; (4) ANYTIME Take 1 item from each player ineach game; they choose the item.; (2) NOW Swap all game items withanother player in one game.; (3) NOW Double your score for this turn inone game.; (2) NOW Choose another player and a game; they take your turnin that game any way you could have (this might make you lose).

Some Technical Results

Some aspects of game modification instructions 800 add or increasechance as a game characteristic or game play element, which has atechnical result of moving a modified game toward the Luck end of aStrategy vs. Luck spectrum, relative to the original unmodified game. Anextreme example of this effect is the result of Swap All Game Items, aninstruction 800 which transfers possession and control of one person orteam's strategic results and opportunities to a different player orteam. In Dominion® play, for example, the Dominion® card deck built thusfar according to one's strategy is transferred to a different player, inexchange for a different Dominion® card deck built using a differentstrategy. This is extremely challenging and/or frustrating, depending onthe situation and the player expectations and temperaments. Less extremeexamples include chance introduced by missed turn {2010}, extra turn{2010}, turn score multipliers {2016}, and other instructions 800. Somegame modification instructions have little or no impact on a game'sposition in the Strategy vs. Luck spectrum, such as instructions {2008}to switch seats while keeping all items.

Some game modification instructions introduce strategic possibilitiesnot found in the original unmodified game 102. Turn Order {2012} changescan provide a one-time small impact. Trading {2024} game items orrevealing {2028} them can pose strategic choices, such as which items totrade or reveal and with whom that occurs. The known possibility of amerge {2038} or an all-item-swap {2024} may change strategicconsiderations, e.g., players face a choice between making rapid butrisky movement toward a quick win in the hope the merge or all-swap doesnot happen soon, versus a more cooperative safer-in-the-longer-termapproach. YJCW {2018}, stumbles {2018}, restart/regress {2030} otherplayer's items, temporary possession {2032}, and other instructions maygenerate good will or create a drive toward revenge, depending on howthey are used. Null cards and Charm cards require a decision aboutwhether to stop with 3 or try to collect more in order to take 2 extraturns or even discard a YJCW/Stumbles card, bearing in mind thepossibility of all-swap, forced discard {2006}, and the like. Strategicdecisions also bear on when to play Later or Anytime cards. Drawingextra items {2002, 2026} involves strategic decisions about which itemsto then discard.

Some aspects of game modification instructions 800 add or increasenovelty as a game characteristic or game play element, which has atechnical result of moving a modified game toward the Unexplored end ofa player-specific Familiar-to-me vs. Unexplored spectrum, relative tothe original unmodified game. As a technical result, familiar games arerevitalized, and for some people playing them in modified form is funnerand more interesting than in the original form. Examples include most ifnot all game modification instructions, particularly those that inject1706 a card draw mechanism 206 into games 102 previously lacking them,such as checkers, chess, Chinese checkers, Jenga®, Scrabble®, Stratego®,Twister®, and many other games. Novelty is added even to games 102 thatalready have a card draw mechanism, because rules 104 of the game aremodified. Not only are existing mechanisms such as turn-taking alteredin number and/or order, but other mechanisms 206 may be added, such asWinning Conditions {2018}, changing seats {2008}, merge teams {2038},temporary possession {2032}, draw more than usual and discard some{2026, 2006}, and restart/regress {2030}.

Some aspects of game modification instructions 800 add or increaseplayer interaction as a game characteristic or game play element, whichhas a technical result of moving a modified game toward the SociallyInteractive end of a Siloed vs. Socially Interactive spectrum, relativeto the original unmodified game 102. For example, with the exception oflimited examples such as Militia and Curses cards, the deck-buildinggame Dominion® is largely siloed, so much so that a player can oftenknow exactly what Dominion® cards they will play and in what order wellbefore the previous player has taken a turn. Game modificationinstructions 800 such as giving {2020}, taking {2022}, or trading {2024}game items (even short of swapping all items), or changing seats {2008},introduce social interactions that are not present in the originalDominion® game.

Most aspects of game modification instructions 800 add time to game playduration, because game modification instructions take time to obtain,understand, and perform, on top of the original game's turns 1006. Butsome game modification instructions 800 can reduce play duration, e.g.,skipping 1782 turns or adding 1786 turns that let a player advance morequickly than otherwise possible. In checkers, for example, having anextra turn allows a player to move into jeopardy and then backout—capturing an opponent's piece along the way—in a manner notavailable in unmodified checkers. Also, Final Round {2014} instructionscan dramatically shorten game play.

The technical impact of some game modification instructions 800 variesaccording to the characteristics of the underlying original game 102,namely, the game 102 that game modification equipment 202 is beingpaired with in a given situation. For example, reveal hidden items{2028} has little or no impact on the strategic play of Dominion®because players can usually reveal cards such as coppers that the otherplayers already knew were in the revealing player's deck. But in playingcard games, Scrabble®, Rummikub®, Stratego®, Battleship®, and othergames, revealing 1788 a hidden 1790 item can significantly impact ascore or even an ultimate outcome. In yet other games, where there areno hidden items (chess, checkers, Go, etc.) the revealing of hiddenitems is replaced, e.g., in composite instructions 800, by changes inthe number of turns.

Some aspects of game modification instructions 800 add or increase turncomplexity, since each turn now begins by pulling 1106 a gamemodification instruction card or spinner result. For games likeDominion® (mark of Rio Grande Games, Inc.) or Pandemic™ (mark of Z-ManGames, Inc.) which already have multi-part turns, the additional turncomplexity may either be embraced or be frustrating, depending on theplayer's temperament and familiarity with the underlying original game.

Composite Instructions

Many examples of composite instructions 800 are provided in thereferenced applications and elsewhere herein. Some of these include thefollowing: “Swap 2 Bejinx™ cards—or—take 1 extra turn instead. If youchoose the cards and Teams, the Teams must swap those cards.”, “You take1 Bejinx™ card from any Team—or—Lose your turn. You choose the card.”,“You discard 1 Bejinx™ card of any other Team—or—Lose your turn. Youchoose the card. Lose your turn if no one has any Bejinx™ cards.”,“Triple your score for this turn, or draw 4 items instead of 1. Discardas required by hand size requirements.”, “Take the last 3 game itemsdiscarded by any Player, including yourself. Unable or unwilling? Thenlose your turn.”, “Reveal 2 hidden items to ANY other Player. Unable orunwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “Choose a Player and 2 hidden itemsthey must reveal to you. If the chosen Player has only zero or onehidden items, you get an extra turn instead.”, “Reveal 2 hidden items toALL the other Players. Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”,“Double your score for this turn. If turns are not scored, take an extraturn instead.”, “Take 3 trade items from another Player, or take anextra turn. Trade items are money, cards or tiles drawn or bought, andother items not bound to one player for the entire game.”, “Take all ofthe Bejinx™ cards of any other Player, or lose your turn if no one elsehas Bejinx™ cards.”, “Draw up to 3 items, then discard 2 items. If noitems can be drawn or 2 items cannot be discarded, then take an extraturn instead.”

Some Additional Observations About Deck Construction

When constructing 1772 decks, one approach is to categorize gamemodification instructions according to the extent of their potentialimpact on game play, and then include a smaller or greater number ofcards/instructions from one category relative to another category,according to the impact desired. Impact may be on the Strategy vs. Luckspectrum, for example, and/or one of the other spectra. For example, oneembodiment uses low-impact, medium-impact, and high-impact ascategories, with cards (or their instructions) considered low-impact ifthey alter only 1 or 2 turns, e.g., cards to lose 1782 a turn, take 1786an extra turn, trade 1738 seats, alter 1792 turn order 1794, or double1796 one's score 1798 for this turn. Cards may be consideredmedium-impact if following their instruction will often have impactbeyond one or two turns, e.g., cards to swap 1730 items, draw 1701 extraitems, reveal 1788 hidden items, move an item in 1703 or out 1705 ofplay, take 3 turns instead of 1 turn 1786, give 1734 or take 1736 items.High-impact cards often alter game outcome, e.g., temporary possession{2032} cards allowing one player to temporarily possess 1723 anotherplayer's items, time travel {2030} cards to return/regress/restore 1707an item, YJCW {2018} and other cards that change 1709 a winningcondition 1711, merging 1713 or splitting 1715 teams 1717, two or moreplayers swap all game items (including scores) {2024}, and final round{2014} cards that change 1719 which round of turns is the final round1721. Sayings cards {2034} may be considered low-to-medium impact, orsplit between categories according to how prevalent they are in thedeck.

In this context, one introductory deck 600 includes low-impact cards,may include a “few” medium-impact cards (e.g., “few” meaning less than10% of the deck for non-sayings medium-impact cards), and includes nohigh-impact cards, in a deck of 40 to 60 cards total. This deck would besuitable for younger players, e.g., children 6 to 10 years old. A largerdeck for families and/or players averse to game-outcome-changing luckcards includes all cards other than time travel, swap all items, teammerge, and temporary possession cards, with 80 to 130 cards overall.

A Large Deck Example

One large deck includes all 200 cards shown in the spreadsheet figuresof prior application docket no. 1384.2.71F, including time travel, swapall items, team merge, and temporary possession cards. Text of someinstructions 800 derived from the spreadsheet figures is reproducedbelow for convenience, with category 1716 titles in angle brackets, timesegments 1712 in all caps, and inventory management SKUs omitted, andsome wording variations included:

<Turn Count>{2010} “ANYTIME You take 3 turns instead of 1.”, “LATER Youtake 3 turns instead of 1.”, “NOW You take 3 turns instead of 1.”,“ANYTIME You take 2 turns instead of 1.”, “You take 2 turns instead of1.”, “NOW You take 2 turns instead of 1.”, “NOW You skip your turn.”,“NOW Another Player takes a turn instead of you. You choose who.”, “NOWPlayer on your left takes a turn instead of you.”, “NOW Player on yourright takes a turn instead of you.”

<Turn Order>{2012} “NOW Choose a turn order.”

<Turn Limit>{2014} “Undo Final Round! ANYTIME AT ALL Continue the gameafter Final Round! is played. Can be played out of turn, or not at allto let the game end.”, “Final Round! NOW Unless someone undoes it, thisis the final round. Each Player will get only 1 more turn. Undo by UndoFinal Round! or by discarding.”, “Final Round! NOW Unless someone undoesit, each Player gets only 1 more turn. Other Players can undo this byplaying an ‘Undo FinalRound!’ card or a Bejinx™ discard card.”, “FinalRound! ANYTIME Unless someone undoes it, this is the final round. EachPlayer will get only 1 more turn. Undo by Undo Final Round! or bydiscarding.”, “Final Round! ANYTIME Unless someone undoes it, eachPlayer gets only 1 more turn. Other Players can undo this by playing an‘Undo FinalRound!’ card or a Bejinx™ discard card.”

<Turn Score>{2016} “ANYTIME Triple your score for this turn. Or you takean extra turn instead.”, “LATER Triple your score for this turn. Or youtake an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Triple your score for this turn. Oryou take an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Double your score for thisturn. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “LATER Double your score forthis turn. Or you take an extra turn instead. State your choice beforetaking your turn.”, “NOW Double your score for this turn. Or you take anextra turn instead.”

<Win Caveat>{2018} “You Just Can't Win NOW Lay this card in front ofyou. Anyone with this card cannot be the final winner even if they winthe original game. Discard any other You Just Can't Win cards.”, “NOWTake any visible You Just Can't Win card. Then take an extra turn.”,“You Can Win ANYTIME AT ALL Discard all You Just Can't Win cardsdirected at you. Can be played out of turn.”

<Give Item>{2020} “NOW Give another Player 3 of your items. Don't giveany Bejinx™ cards. Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOW Giveanother Player 2 of your items. Don't give any Bejinx™ cards. Unable orunwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOW Give the Player on your left 2 ofyour items. Don't give any Bejinx™ cards. Unable or unwilling? Then loseyour turn.”, “NOW Give the Player on your right 2 of your items. Don'tgive any Bejinx™ cards Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOWGive another Player 1 of your items. Don't give any Bejinx™ cards.Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOW Give the Player on yourleft 1 of your items. Don't give any Bejinx™ cards. Unable or unwilling?Then lose your turn.”, “NOW Give the Player on your right 1 of youritems. Don't give any Bejinx™ cards. Unable or unwilling? Then lose yourturn.”, “NOW Give another Player all your other Bejinx™ cards. Discardthis card. Lose your turn if you have none to give.”

<Take Item>{2022} “NOW Take 3 items from another Player. Or you take anextra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Take 2 items from another Player. Or youtake an extra turn instead.”, “LATER Take 2 items from another Player.Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Take 2 items from anotherPlayer. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Take 1 item fromanother Player. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “LATER Take 1 itemfrom another Player. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Take 1item from another Player. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Take2 items discarded during the previous turn. Don't take a Bejinx™ card.Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOW Take 2 items discardedduring the previous turn. Don't take any Bejinx™ cards. Unable orunwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “LATER Take 1 item discarded duringthe previous turn. Don't take a Bejinx™ card. Unable or unwilling? Thenlose your turn.”, “NOW Take all the Bejinx™ cards of Player to yourleft. Lose your turn if they have none.”, “NOW Take all the Bejinx™cards of all other Players. Lose your turn if they have none.”

<Exchange Item>{2024} “NOW 2 Players must swap all items. You choosewho, but lose your turn. The Players either move items or trade seats.”,“ANYTIME Swap 1 item for 1 item of another Player. Choose items that arenot this card. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “LATER Swap 1 itemfor 1 item of another Player. Choose items that are not this card. Oryou take an extra turn instead.”, “Swap 1 item for 1 item of anotherPlayer. Choose items that are not this card. Or you take an extra turninstead.”, “ANYTIME Swap 1 item for 2 items of another Player. Chooseitems that are not this card. Or you take an extra turn instead.”,“LATER Swap 1 item for 2 items of another Player. Choose items that arenot this card. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Swap 1 item for2 items of another Player. Choose items that are not this card. Or youtake an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Swap 2 items for 1 item ofanother Player. Choose items that are not this card. Or you take anextra turn instead.”, “LATER Swap 2 items for 1 item of another Player.Choose items that are not this card. Or you take an extra turninstead.”, “NOW Swap 2 items for 1 item of another Player. Choose itemsthat are not this card. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “Avoid OneSwap ANYTIME AT ALL Discard 1 swap card directed at you. Can be playedout of turn.”, “Swat One Swap! ANYTIME AT ALL Can be played anytime aswap card is directed at you. Then discard this card.”, “No Swaps EverANYTIME AT ALL Item swap cards do not apply to you. Discard swap cardsthat target you. Can be played out of turn.”, “No Swaps Here! ANYTIME ATALL Lay this card in front of you. Item swap cards will not apply to youwhile you have this card.”

<Draw Item>{2026} “ANYTIME Draw up to 3 items, then discard any 1 item.Don't draw any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”,“LATER Draw up to 3 items, then discard any 1 item. Don't draw anyBejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Draw up to 3items, then discard any 1 item. Don't draw any Bejinx™ cards. Or youtake an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Draw up to 4 items, then discardany 2 items. Don't draw or discard any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take anextra turn instead.”, “LATER Draw up to 4 items, then discard any 2items. Don't draw or discard any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extraturn instead.”, “NOW Draw up to 4 items, then discard any 2 items. Don'tdraw or discard any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”,“ANYTIME Draw up to 3 items, then discard any 2 items. Don't draw ordiscard any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “LATERDraw up to 3 items, then discard any 2 items. Don't draw or discard anyBejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Draw up to 3items, then discard any 2 items. Don't draw or discard any Bejinx™cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Draw up to 5 items,then discard any 3 items. Don't draw any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take anextra turn instead.”, “LATER Draw up to 5 items, then discard any 3items. Don't draw any Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turninstead.”, “NOW Draw up to 5 items, then discard any 3 items. Don't drawany Bejinx™ cards. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “ANYTIME Draw upto 3 items, then discard any 1 item. Or you take an extra turninstead.”, “LATER Draw up to 3 items, then discard any 1 item. Or youtake an extra turn instead.”, “NOW Draw up to 3 items, then discard any1 item. Or you take an extra turn instead.”

<Reveal Item>{2028} “NOW Reveal 2 hidden items to another Player. Orlose your turn instead.”, “NOW Reveal 3 hidden items to another Player.Or lose your turn instead.”, “NOW Reveal 2 hidden items to the Player onyour left. Or lose your turn instead.”, “NOW Reveal 3 hidden items tothe Player on your left. Or lose your turn instead.”, “NOW Reveal 2hidden items to the Player on your right. Or lose your turn instead.”,“NOW Reveal 3 hidden items to the Player on your right. Or lose yourturn instead.”, “ANYTIME Another Player must reveal 2 hidden items toyou. You choose the Player and items. Or you take an extra turninstead.”, “LATER Another Player must reveal 2 hidden items to you. Youchoose the Player and items. Or you take an extra turn instead.”, “NOWAnother Player must reveal 2 hidden items to you. You choose the Playerand items. Or you take an extra turn instead.”

<Restore Item>{2030} “NOW Restore 1 item of anyone to how it began thegame. Don't displace any other item. If you can't restore an item, loseyour turn.”, “NOW Return 1 item of anyone to how it was when the gamebegan. Don't displace any other item. If you can't return an item, loseyour turn.”, “NOW Restore 1 of your items to how it began the game.Don't displace any other item. If you can't restore an item, lose yourturn.”, “NOW Return 1 item of your own to how it was when the gamebegan. Don't displace any other item. If you can't return an item, loseyour turn.”

<Possession>{2032} “LATER Draw a Bejinx™ card for another Player, andtake a turn for them. [‘turn’ means original game turn unless otherwisestated] View and play their items as they can. Then take your ownturn.”, “NOW Draw a Bejinx™ card for another Player, and take a turn forthem. View and play their items as they can. Then take your own turn.”

<Sayings>{2034} Each of these instructions in this example has the form<“ANYTIME CHARM”><saying><“Play Lucky Charm Cards: 3 Charms Cards=1extra turn, 5 Charms Cards=2 extra turns, 6 Charms Cards=Discard ANYBejinx™ card”>, so only the saying portions are listed here: “You're inluck!”, “The sun shines warm on your face.”, “You don't need threewishes to thrive.”, “For you, bad luck does not come in threes; itdoesn't come at all.”, “Better to be born lucky than rich.”, “Greengrass and blue skies forever”, “Lady Luck smiles on you.”, “The wind isalways at your back.”, “Lucky Penny!”, “You are so lucky you plantpebbles and harvest potatoes.”, “Tossed overboard, you surface on awhale.”, “Thrown to lions, you smile and they purr.”, “With you aboard,Titanic sinks the iceberg.”, “Live long and prosper!”, “The house won'tbet against you!”, “Warm words on a cold evening.”, “You are so luckyrice dumplings fly into your mouth.”, “Your luck is sweeter thancandy.”, “Your luck is stronger than steel.”, “Your luck is faster thanlight.”, “You're an odd 1, but there's luck in odd numbers.”, “Here's alittle bit of luck!”, “We're the luckiest people in the world.”,“Puppies and butterflies!”, “For you, the mirror does not break.”,“Fortune favors you.”, “For you, the axe does not fall.”, “Black catsturn calico for you.”, “Milk uncurdles for you.”, “Fortune aids you inlove.”, “Fire will not burn you.”, “Lightning will not strike you.”,“You win the wishbone!”, “Your calendar skips Friday the 13th.”, “Foryou, the umbrella won't open indoors.”, “Wood knocks on itself foryou.”, “The bells ring joyously for you!”, “Lucky and plucky and happyall day!”, “Speak freely: Fate is not tempted.”, “Mirrors have no powerover you.”, “The Jynx torquilla bird cannot jinx you.”, “Jealousy meltsat your glance.”, “Sunrise is sweet, and your days even sweeter.”

<Discard Item>{2006} “NOW Discard all your Bejinx™ cards.”, “LATERDiscard all your Bejinx™ cards.”, “NOW Discard 3 items plus this card.Discarded items go to a draw pile. Lose your turn if you can't do it.”,“NOW Discard 2 items plus this card. Discarded items go to a draw pile.Lose your turn if you can't do it.”, “NOW Discard all the Bejinx™ cardsof all other Players. Lose your turn if they have none.”

<In Play>{2040} “NOW Move 1 of your items out of play. It's notdiscarded or captured or hit. It's out of the game for now.”, “LATERMove 1 of your items out of play. It's not discarded or captured or hit.It's out of the game for now.”, “NOW Move 1 out-of-play item back intoplay. Or lose your turn instead.”

<Seating>{2008} “ANYTIME 2 other Players must trade seats. Or you takean extra turn instead. They will each keep all their own items.”, “NOW 2other Players must trade seats. Or you take an extra turn instead. Theywill each keep all their own items.”, “ANYTIME Another Player must tradeseats with you. Or you take an extra turn instead. You will each keepall your own items.”, “NOW Another Player must trade seats with you. Oryou take an extra turn instead. You will each keep all your own items.”

<Merge>{2038} “NOW Merge into the Team on your right. Unless that wouldleave only 1 Team. Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”, “NOWMerge into the Team on your left. Unless that would leave only 1 Team.Unable or unwilling? Then lose your turn.”

<Jinx>{2036} “ANYTIME AT ALL Jinx! Play this card like a mirror, thendiscard it. Jinx! reflects any original game action or Bejinx™ actionback at the action's originator. Play Jinx! anytime, to protect yourselfor another player. One Jinx! against another Jinx! will cancel eachother.”

<Administrative Product>“Bejinx™ The Game Changer™ J. Ogilvie, PatentPending. © 2014 Smiling Pines LLC. All Rights Reserved. Rules: Bejinx™enhances familiar games. Draw a Bejinx™ card or play from your handbefore each turn in the original game, or lose that turn. Follow thecard instructions Now, on a Later turn, or Anytime, even after theoriginal game ends, to determine the final winner. Check the Bejinx™Guide for more info.”

<blank> this is a blank or fill-in-the blank card for people tocustomize a deck with their own rules.

Some Observations on how Many Decks are Taught

In operation, a game modification deck modifies rules of at least onepre-existing game, thus changing how the game is played. The cards orspinner of a game modification deck are equipment which supplement theequipment of the game that is being modified. An extremely large numberof different decks can be made according to the teachings herein. Forinstance, if we consider only decks of 40 cards, and consider only 100of the different cards taught herein, the number of possible decksexceeds 1.37×10²⁸. For inventory management purposes, cards 602 may beconsidered different from one another if they differ in card type(merge, turn order, etc.), in a specified quantity (give 1 item vs. give2 items, draw 4 and discard 2 vs. draw 4 and discard 3, etc.), in theactor (take from another player vs. take from player to your left,etc.), and/or in the action time frame 1712 (e.g., now, later, anytime).Moreover, one of more of these bases for difference may be omitted,e.g., not every embodiment includes “later” and “anytime” time frames.So the number of possible cards is actually larger than 100. Decks 600may also contain duplicates of a given card, e.g., more than one YJCW orFinal Round card, or more than one “skip your turn card”.

An Example Game Guide

Shown below is an example draft guide for some examples of a gamemodification system a.k.a. game enhancer or game expansion or gamepairing, annotated with reference numbers, to help illustrate furtheralternative embodiments according to the teachings of this disclosure.As with the other examples herein, individual features may be repeated,omitted, renamed, combined differently, or otherwise evident in a givenexample. Not every embodiment conforms with the example guide below. Forinstance, not every embodiment requires players to identify tradableitems; in some embodiments the instructions 800 are formulated to avoidrequiring players to identify items as tradable when preparing 1102 forplay. As another example, some embodiments lack null cards.

All marks are the property of their respective owners, and nosponsorship or affiliation is implied or asserted between owners ofrights in pre-existing games and the owner of the present disclosure andits associated rights.

Attentive readers will note that some of the gravel card issues notedabove are resolved or avoided by some of the definitions below. Forinstance, Stratego® pieces can be traded 1730 by trading their positionson the board, instead of interpreting an instruction to trade 1 gameitem as an instruction to trade one game modification instruction card.

Bejinks™ Guide

Supercharge Any Game!™ It's not a game. It's a Game Changer.™ The GameChanger.™

Why Games 102 are Better Paired with Bejinx™

“Bejinks” is not a game—it's more! The Bejinks™ game modification system202 is a game changer you can use to supercharge games 102 you alreadyknow. Play with Bejinx™ is better. Your Bejinks™ system adds suspense,surprise and fun to almost any familiar board game, card game, tilegame, or other game. The Basic Bejinks™ game modification system workswith many familiar favorites, such as Backgammon, Battleship®,Blackjack, Bridge, Checkers, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Clue®, Cribbage,Dominion®, Dominoes, Go, Go Fish, Hearts, Jenga®, The Game of Life®,Mahjong, Mancala, Mille Bornes®, Miniatures games, Monopoly®, Munchkin®,Othello®, Peg Solitaire, Pente®, Pictionary®, Poker, Risk®, Rummikub®,Rummy, Scrabble®, Settlers of Catan®, Solitaire, Sorry!®, Spades,Stratego®, Ticket To Ride®, Trivial Pursuit®, Turn-based strategy games,Twister®, and Yahtzee®, among others. Bejinks™ Booster Packs are alsoavailable for particular games. Most games 102 in which one or moreplayers take turns to move game pieces, to acquire game items, or to getrid of game items, are Bejinks™-compatible.

Play with Bejinx™ is easy. If you already know how to play a bendablegame 102, you can start supercharging it with a Bejinx™ play enhancer202 in five minutes or less, without learning an entire new game fromscratch.Play with Bejinx™ is a bargain. You can supercharge the board games,card games, tile games, and other bendable games 102 that you alreadyown—without buying expensive equipment. All you need is this Guide and aBejinks™ card deck 600 or spinner 604.Play with Bejinx™ is inclusive. Anyone 904 that can play aBejinks™-compatible game can also enjoy a version of that game createdby pairing that game with Bejinx™ equipment, as illustrated in FIGS.2-9, 11-20.

Setting Up for Play with Bejinx™

1. Set up 1002 the original game 102 as usual. For solitaire play, seethe “Tips for Pairing Bejinx™ With Particular Games” section below. Forgames 102 with two or more players 904, set up the original game as younormally would:

-   -   Position any board game pieces, and deal any cards or tiles as        usual    -   Give players their initial score, money, armies, property cards,        clue cards, destination cards, chips, and other assets just as        you normally would        2. Identify the “Tradable Game Items”. During play 204, players        may trade 1730 game items, give 1734 away a game item, take 1736        a game item, or restore 1707 a game item to a starting        condition. Thus, it may help to know which items of original        game equipment and/or game modification equipment these actions        apply to in particular pairings with equipment 202. Examples of        item tradability are given below for particular games, but there        are two main things to know about any game item:    -   Is this item tradable at all? A game item is only tradable if        someone owns it at the end of their turn. Items that no one        owns—like the board in a board game or the cards in a draw        pile—are not tradable. Bejinks™ cards 602 held by a player are        tradable.    -   If this item is tradable, can it be traded by itself? In some        embodiments, items that represent a player are tradable only        when trading everything the player owns in the game. In        checkers, chess, and Chinese checkers, for example, each piece        on the board represents one player (or represents one team, in        team play). Such items cannot be traded by themselves in these        embodiments. They can only be traded as part of a larger        exchange of everything a player owns in the game, e.g., chess        players can trade sides so that white takes over all the black        pieces and black takes over all the white pieces. By contrast,        Bejinks™ cards held by a player are tradable one or more at a        time.        3. Set up 1102 the Bejinks™ game items. If you'll be playing        with a Bejinks™ card deck, shuffle the Bejinks™ cards and place        them face down in one or more draw piles 1724 where the players        can reach them. To play with a Bejinks™ spinner 604, simply        place the spinner where at least one player can reach it. You        may also decide 1772 which Bejinx™ cards to include/exclude in        the deck. For example, in games that rely heavily on strategy,        such as deck-building games like Dominion® or go or bridge or        chess or miniature war games, some players may wish to remove        cards 602 with instructions to swap all items. Some players        become emotionally invested in their personal strategies and do        not appreciate the upheaval and unpredictable challenges of        handing their strategically-built position over to another        player and receiving some other player's position in exchange.        As another example, more complex instructions 800 can be removed        from a Bejinx™ deck to ease play with younger players. Examples        of such instructions may include Temporary Possession {2032},        Merge {2038}, Restart vs. Regress distinctions {2030}, and/or        multiple YJCW or ranked Stumbles {2018}, in some situations.        That's it! You are set up to play.

Playing a Game Paired with Bejinx™ Cards

1. Get 1106 a Bejinks™ instruction 800. Get a Bejinks™ instruction atthe beginning of your turn, before you do anything in the original game:

-   -   If you're playing with a Bejinks™ spinner, spin the spinner (or        have another player spin it for you) to get 1106 your        instruction.    -   If you're playing with Bejinks™ cards, get 1106 your instruction        by pulling a Bejinks™ card. You can pull from a Bejinks™ card        draw pile, or if you prefer you can pull from your own private        stock 1720 of Bejinks™ cards (if you have any). Private stock        cards are Bejinks™ cards that you pulled 1106 in a prior turn        and placed aside instead of playing immediately; in some decks        they always have the word “Later” or the phrase “Now or Later”        on them.    -   If you forget to get your Bejinks™ instruction before doing        anything in your original game turn, and another player points        that out before the next player's turn, then you lose your        entire turn. Play moves on 1110 instead to the next player.        2. Follow 1108 your Bejinks™ instruction 800, or maybe not. Some        Bejinks™ instructions must be followed immediately, some can        only be followed later, some give you a choice, and some do not        require any action from you:    -   Bejinks™ instructions 800 that do not require any action from        you are marked with this symbol:        in some decks 600. These are called “null instructions”. When        you get a null instruction on a Bejinks™ card, put the card in        your private stock; when the instruction is on a Bejinks™        spinner, let the other players see the spinner. Then go ahead        and take 1008 your turn in the original game as you would under        its normal rules 104 of play.    -   Bejinks™ instructions 800 that can be followed either now or        later have the phrase “Now or Later” on them in some decks 600.        They only appear on Bejinks™ cards 602, not on the Bejinks™        spinner 604, since spinners are shared and do not go into any        player's private stock. You can either (a) follow 1108 the        instruction now and then put the card face up in a discard pile        1728, or else (b) put 1718 the Bejinks™ card in your private        stock 1720 to trade or play later.    -   Some Bejinks™ cards say “Only Later” on them. These cards 602        cannot be played on the same turn they are pulled 1106; they        must be put in your private stock 1720 to trade or play during a        later turn.    -   All other Bejinks™ instructions 800 must be followed 1108        immediately. This includes all Bejinks™ spinner instructions 800        which are not null instructions, all Bejinks™ card instructions        800 that say “Only Now”, and all Bejinks™ card instructions 800        which are not null instructions and do not say when they should        be followed. Put 1726 the Bejinks™ card face up in a discard        pile after following its instruction.        3. Take 1008 your turn in the original game (maybe). Some        Bejinks™ instructions 800 tell you to skip 1782 your turn, or to        give 1784 your turn to another player. Some Bejinks™        instructions tell you to take two turns, so you will get 1786        two turns in the original game (but only the one Bejinks™        instruction 800). Some Bejinks™ instructions are null with        regard to turns, so you simply take your turn in the original        game as you would normally do without any Bejinks™ instruction.        4. Finish the original game. Play the original game through to        its end, following Bejinks™ instructions along the way. If there        are no Bejinks™ cards 602 in any player's private stock at the        end of the original game, then that is also the end of the        Bejinx™-paired version 204 of the game.        5. After the original game, play 1108 all permitted private        stock instructions 800. Some Bejinks™ instructions can only by        followed during the original game, but others can be followed        after the original game ends. For example, you can only give        another player your turn while the original game is in progress,        but you can trade all game items—and all points—with another        player even after the original game has ended. Bejinks™ cards in        your private stock will tell you whether they can be played        after the original game ends. Sometimes playing Bejinks™ cards        after an original game ends will change who wins the Bejinx™        version of the game.

Tips for Pairing Bejinx™ With Particular Games

Here are some examples of trading game items, taking game items, givinggame items, and other tips for using some Bejinks™ equipment 202 tosupercharge some familiar games 102.

-   -   Items can be tradable yet never get traded. Tradable game items        will actually change owners only when players are authorized to        trade game items, to give away a game item, or to take a game        item. The authorization can come from the normal rules of the        original game, or from a Bejinks™ instruction.    -   “Original game items” are part of the original game equipment        100. When an instruction says “games items” without specifically        limiting the instruction to “original” game items, the        instruction means both original game items 100 and game        modification cards 602, e.g., Bejinx™ cards.    -   In every Bejinx™ paired version of a game, any Bejinks™ cards        602 held by a player 904 are always tradable one or more at a        time.    -   In every Bejinx™ paired version 204 of a game, one way to        take/give a game item is to take/give a Bejinks™ card. Other        ways to take or give a game item are described below for        particular games.    -   Every Bejinks™ instruction 800 to take/give an item specifies        expressly or implicitly who gets to choose the item—you or        another player. In some versions of equipment 202, the Player        who pulled the Bejinks™ card 602 always gets to choose the item        or Team the instruction will be applied to.    -   When you are choosing another player's item, and the values of        the items are hidden from you, then you must make the choice        blindly unless an instruction 800 specifies otherwise. For        example, when choosing from among several face-down cards        (original game cards 100 or cards 602), the cards remain        face-down while you choose. You only get to see the card you've        chosen, and then only after you have chosen it.    -   In every Bejinx™ paired version 204 of a game, chips and other        stakes owned by a player are tradable one or more at a time.    -   In most score-keeping Bejinx™ paired games, player scores are        traded when trading everything a player owns, and are not traded        otherwise. Yahtzee® is an exception, because individual score        boxes 408 can be traded one or more at a time by moving their        scores.    -   In games 102 such as Monopoly®, Sorry®, Ticket to Ride®, Trivial        Pursuit®, and many others, players move a token 506 that        represents them. Some Bejinks™ instructions 800 will have you        trade 1730 all game items—including the tokens—with another        player. Be sure to remember who you are (which token represents        you) after the trade! If you move the wrong token, it goes back        where it should be, and you lose your turn.    -   When a Bejinks™ instruction 800 refers to “two other players”        but only two players are playing, the instruction means those        two players.    -   Consider adding a Bejinks™ Booster Pack for the games you love        most. The Booster Pack for a game 102 adds Bejinks™ instructions        800 that work especially well with that game.    -   When trading items whose value is hidden, e.g., facedown cards,        neither player gets to see the value of the other player's item        before deciding which item to give in trade.

Backgammon.

Board pieces (checkers/draughts/counters) 306 are tradable either bytrading all pieces on two points, or by trading everything owned by aplayer. When trading pieces on points, the number of pieces on the twopoints can be different unless the players agree otherwise before playbegins. For example, four red checkers on one point could exchangeplaces with three white checkers on another point. Taking 1736 an itemfrom another player can be done by putting one of their checkers on thebar. Giving 1734 an item to another player can be done by putting one ofyour own checkers on the bar.

Battleship®.

Ships, pegs, and the grids that ships are placed in are all tradable,but only when trading everything owned by a player. In regular Bejinx™Battleship® play, the original game items are guesses. For example,taking 1736 an item from the other Player means you take an extra guess,giving 1734 an item to the other Player means you give them an extraguess, and trading or swapping 1730 one or two game items means you eachget one or two extra guesses; the Player who drew the Bejinx™instruction goes first. Swapping or trading all game items means you getthe other Player's grid, ships, and pegs, and they get yours. Writingdown your ship positions is not allowed, but you should memorize them incase you trade all game items. In Speed Bejinx™ Battleship® play, taking1736 an item from another player means instantly sinking one of theirships, which you specify by name, e.g., “submarine”, “destroyer”,“aircraft carrier”, “battleship”, or “patrol boat.” Giving 1734 an itemto another player means instantly sinking one of your own ships. In bothregular and Speed Bejinx™ Battleship® play, regressing or retarting anitem means removing all hits from a ship—even one that was sunk—andoptionally relocating that ship (you can leave it where it was if youwish). Finally, don't forget to use 1106 at least one Bejinx™ cardbefore you call out your guess, or else you lose that turn and the otherPlayer does not have to tell you whether that guess was a hit or a miss.

Blackjack/Twenty-One.

Playing cards that have not been dealt, playing cards that are held onlyduring a turn (not after it), and discarded playing cards are nottradable. Taking 1736 an item can be done by being dealt another card.Giving 1734 an item can be done by discarding one of the cards you havebeen dealt.

Bridge.

Playing cards that have not been dealt, cards that are held only duringa turn (not after it), and discarded playing cards are not tradable.Playing cards held after a turn are tradable one or more at a timeunless all players agree before play begins that they are tradable onlywith everything else owned by the player in the game, including theplayer's score. Trades occur between teams, not between individualplayers, unless all players agree otherwise before play begins.Likewise, Bejinks™ cards are held by a team rather than being held byindividual players, unless agreed otherwise before play begins. Taking1736 an item from another player is done either by taking a Bejinks™card from them or by swapping a playing card with them. Similarly,giving 1734 an item to another player is done either by giving aBejinks™ card to them or by swapping a playing card with them.Regardless of whether items are traded, taken, or given, each playerwill still have 13 playing cards afterward.

Carcassonne®.

Followers cannot be taken or given, but they can be swapped 1730 byswapping their positions. If the number of followers is not the same forboth players, any of the positions of the follower color in question canbe used. Followers cannot be discarded 1726 or drawn 1701. Tiles andBejinx™ cards can be drawn 1701 or discarded 1726.

Checkers/Draughts.

Individual checker pieces are tradable by swapping 1730 their positionson the board. Only like pieces can be traded, unless the players agreebefore play begins that kings and plain pieces can be traded. Checkerpieces are also tradable when trading everything owned by a player,e.g., when the red player switches to play black instead, and viceversa. Taking 1736 a game item can be done by capturing an opposingplayer's piece. Giving 1734 a game item can be done by giving back acaptured piece if you have one to give.

Chess.

Individual pieces are tradable by swapping 1730 their positions on theboard. Unlike pieces can be traded, unless the players agree before playbegins that only like pieces can be traded. Regardless, a trade can bemade even if it places a king in check, unless players agree otherwisein advance. Chess pieces are also tradable as a color group, e.g., thewhite player switches to play black instead, and vice versa. Taking 1736a game item can be done by capturing an opposing player's piece otherthan the king. Giving 1734 a game item can be done by giving back acaptured piece if you have one to give. Strategy is different than inregular chess due in part to extra turns or lost turns; many modifiedgames are won during a two-turn sequence of moves by one player. Discardinstructions are not capture or give instructions; discards 1726 eitherdiscard game instruction cards or change the number of turns.Return/restore/regress or other time travel {2030} instructions movepieces back to their starting positions; the card 602 will state whathappens if another piece currently occupies that square. Modified games204 tend to be faster than regular chess, lasting an average of about 15minutes each during playtesting.

Chinese Checkers.

Individual marbles or pegs are tradable by swapping 1730 their positionson the board. Marbles or pegs are also tradable as a color group, e.g.,the red player switches to play blue instead, and vice versa. Taking1736 a game item can be done by moving an opposing player's marble orpeg back to their starting zone if there is an empty position there.Giving 1734 a game item is done by moving one of your own marbles orpegs back to your starting zone if there is an empty position there.

Cluedo®/Clue®.

Player character tokens are tradable only when trading all player items.Clue cards 100 held by a player are tradable one or more at a time.Trading clue cards 100 often gives players information that helps themdeduce the murder details more rapidly. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an itemcan be done by taking/giving a clue card.

Dominoes.

Tiles 100 in a player's hand are tradable one or more at a time, tilesthat have been laid out are not tradable. Taking 1736/giving 1734 anitem can be done by taking/giving a tradable tile.

Cribbage.

In one variation, taking 1786 an extra turn means laying down two cards100 without the other player laying a card in between them. Cards 100are still kept in separate per-player piles, and all cards are stilleventually laid down before hands are tallied. In another variation, aplayer taking an extra turn means only that player lays down cards forthat hand, although both player's hands are still tallied. Players agreeahead of time which variation to use. Taking 1736 an original game itemmeans taking a hard into your hand from the other player's hand. Somedecks 600 designed specifically for cribbage 102 also containinstructions 800 to take a card from the crib into your hand, to givethe crib a card from your hand, or to trade a crib card with a card fromyour hand. As a result of trading, player hands and the crib may containmore or fewer cards than the four that is the usual number in unmodifiedcribbage play 102. Trading all game items includes trading playing cards100, game modification cards 602, and pegs 100; pegs stay in theircurrent position, so scores are traded as well. Other cribbage-specificgame modification instructions resemble Scrabble® modificationinstructions or other game modification instructions that permit orrequire players to have 1723 more than, or fewer than, than the regularnumber of items (tiles or cards in a hand) 1725, e.g., allowing fivecards in the crib, only three cards in the dealer's hand, and six cardsin the non-dealer's hand. When a game modification instruction requiresthe dealer to reveal 1788 a hidden original game item, the dealer maychoose between revealing a card from the dealer's hand or a card fromthe crib. Unless all players agree otherwise ahead of the game,regressing or restarting 1707 an original game items means putting acard back in the deck below the cut; pegs are not regressed or restartedbecause that is considered too harsh.

Fluxx®.

Fluxx® games 102 should not be confused with the modified games 204 madepossible by the teachings herein. In an unmodified original game 102 ofFluxx®, it is normal for Fluxx® cards to modify Fluxx® play. Confusionbetween Fluxx® cards 100 and Bejinx™ cards 602 or other examples of gamemodification instructions 800 described herein can be reduced, forexample, by remembering that Fluxx® cards 100 only modify Fluxx® play,whereas game modification instructions 800 described herein includegame-agnostic instructions and instructions applicable to many games 102and to different kinds 1769 of games (tile games, board games, cardgames, two-payer games, cooperative games, and more), and also includegame modification instructions 800 tailored to non-Fluxx® games 102 suchas checkers, chess, Monopoly®, Rummikub®, Stratego® and so on and soforth. In addition, game modification instructions 800 herein can becharacterized by their time of play 1712, e.g., some cards 602 areplayable after Fluxx® or another original game ends. Game modificationinstructions 800 herein can also be categorized 1716, e.g., as ItemOwnership {2020, 2022, 2024}, Full Swap {2025}, Temporary Possession{2032}, Reveal/Hide {2028}, Time Jump {2030}, In/Out of Play {2040},Turn Order {2012}, Winning Condition {2018}, Final Round {2014}, MergeTeam {2038}, Seating {2008}, and Item Count {2002, 2026} instructions,thereby disclosing a collection of instructions 800 which differs fromand extends beyond the groups defined in Fluxx® 102, namely, BasicRules, New Rule, Goal, Keeper, Action, Creeper, and Meta Rule.Notwithstanding the clear differences, however, in retrospect it isapparent that Fluxx® play (on the one hand) and the play of Fluxx® orother games according to game modification instructions taught herein(on the other hand) do share the idea of changing the rules 104 of agame. Accordingly, players of Fluxx® may be more likely than otherpeople 904 to welcome and engage in the new and additional explorationsof that idea which are made possible by the teachings herein.

Go.

Individual stones 100 are tradable by swapping 1730 their positions onthe board. Stones are also tradable when the white player switches toplay black instead, and vice versa. Taking 1736 a game item can be doneby removing one of your opponent's stones from the board. Giving 1734 agame item can be done by removing one of your own stones from the board.

Go Fish.

Playing cards 100 in the pool or ocean are not tradable. Books (piles ofmatching cards) and individual playing cards held 1718 by a player aretradable one or more at a time unless all players agree before playbegins that they are tradable only together with everything else ownedby the player in the game. Bejinks™ cards 602 held by a player aretradable one or more at a time. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can bedone by taking/giving a tradable playing card.

Hearts.

Playing cards 100 that have not been dealt, cards 100 that are held onlyduring a turn (not after it), and discarded 1726 playing cards are nottradable. Playing cards held 1718 after a turn are tradable one or moreat a time unless all players agree before play begins that they aretradable only with everything else owned by the player in the game,including the player's score. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can bedone by taking/giving a tradable playing card.

Jenga®.

Only the Bejinks™ cards 602 held by a player are tradable; they can betraded one or more at a time. Jenga® playing pieces 100 are not owned byany player at the end of a turn, so they are not tradable. Taking1736/giving 1734 a game item is done only by taking/giving a Bejinks™card.

Life/The Game of Life®.

People pegs, play money bills 508, insurance policies 100, promissorynotes 100, and stock certificates 100 are tradable one or more at atime. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving oneof these tradable game items or by taking/giving a Bejinks™ card.Automobiles 506 for holding people pegs are tradable only when tradingeverything owned by two players.

Mahjong.

Tiles 100 that have not been dealt to any player are not tradable. Tilesheld by a player are tradable one or more at a time. Taking 1736/giving1734 an item can be done by taking/giving a tradable tile.

Mancala.

Captured seeds/stones 100 are tradable one or more at a time, but theseeds/stones on the board are not tradable. Taking 1736/giving 1734 anitem can be done by taking/giving a tradable seed or stone.

Mille Borneo®.

Cards 100 in the draw pile 1724 and the discard pile 1728 are nottradable. Mille Bornes® cards 100 held by a player or played by theplayer are tradable one or more at a time. Different kinds of playedcards 100 can be traded (e.g., a Hazard card for a Distance card) unlessthe players agree before play begins that only cards of the same kindcan be traded. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done bytaking/giving a tradable Mille Bornes® card or a Bejinks™ card. Be sureto draw 1106 a Bejinx™ card before you draw a Mille Bornes® card, or youlose your turn. Restarted and regressed 1707 Mille Bornes® cards go intothe Mille Bornes® draw pile, not the discard pile. You can only restartor regress 1707 a Mille Bornes® card that is in play. For example, ifyou have a Gasoline card on top of an Out of Gas card, you could restartor regress the Gasoline card but not the Out of Gas card.

Monopoly®.

The race car, top hat, dog, and other tokens 506 are tradable but onlywhen trading everything owned by a player. Play money bills 508,property cards 510, Get Out Of Jail Free cards 516, houses 512, andhotels 514 that are owned by a player 904 are tradable one or more at atime. Any money in the bank or in Free Parking is not tradable. Taking1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving a tradableMonopoly® item or a Bejinks™ card. When a Monopoly® game 102 is pairedwith a Bejinx™ deck 600, monopolies can be split: a set of propertiescan be divided two or three players even after the properties have beendeveloped with houses or hotels; the rent goes to the owner of theindividual property landed on. Unless all players agree otherwise upfront, development is frozen after a monopoly is split; all propertiesin the monopoly must again belong to only one player before developmentcan continue. When a property with houses or hotels changes ownershipdue to a Bejinx™ instruction 800, the houses/hotels are first cashed inat their normal value under Monopoly® rules and that cash remains withthe player who is giving up ownership. Houses and hotels on propertiesthat are not changing ownership stay in place, and their elevated rentsstill apply even though the monopoly was split. When you give 1734 aproperty back to the Bank, or the Bank takes 1736 it back, you are notmortgaging the property; you do not receive the mortgage value, and ifgiven the opportunity anyone else can buy the property as usual undernormal Monopoly® rules. Some Bejinx™ instructions refer to CommunityChest or Chance, but some Monopoly® editions use other names for thoseMonopoly® card 516 piles; use alphabetical ordering to match yourMonopoly® set to the Bejinx™ instructions, e.g., in the National Parksedition Battlefield cards correspond to Chance cards and Historic Sitecards correspond to Community Chest cards. Similarly, in the LooneyTunes edition, Duck Season cards correspond to Chance cards and RabbitSeason cards correspond to Community Chest cards. Restarting 1707 yourown token 506 will take it back to Go, even if you are in Jail. Whendeals are permitted, they happen at the beginning of your Monopoly®turn, after you have drawn 1106 and followed 1108 a Bejinks™ or othergame modification instruction 800.

Othello®/Reversi.

The disks or other reversible board pieces 100 are tradable one or moreat a time by flipping them. They are also tradable as a group when thelight player switches to play dark instead, and vice versa. Taking 1736an item can be done by flipping an opponent's disk or by taking aBejinks™ card, and giving 1734 an item can be done by flipping one ofyour own disks 100 or by giving a Bejinks™ card 602.

Pandemic™.

In one modified version of Pandemic™ board game play, the Board does nottake turns as a Player but it does own the following Board items 100:disease cubes, infection cards, epidemic cards, outbreak counter, andinfection rate marker as a quasi-player. So a game-agnostic gamemodification instruction 800 which involves item ownership, reveal/hide,time jump, or in/out of play can involve Board items. In this firstversion 204, however, the role 106 of Board does not own or play Bejinx™cards so any instruction or move that would require the Board to own aBejinx™ card is treated as not existing. In another modified version,there is also a Board proxy 904. One player volunteers to serve as theboard's proxy, or is chosen proxy by low dice roll. The proxy draws andplays Bejinx™ cards on behalf of the board. The board and its proxy arein the turn order after all the regular (human) players. Unless allplayers agree otherwise ahead of time, the proxy is not a regularplayer, so the proxy wins if the regular players lose, and the proxyloses if the regular players win. Pandemic™ board game player(city/event) cards 100 acquired by the proxy/board from regular playersare not held by the board but go instead into the discard piles. Diseasecubes 100 acquired by the proxy/board come from the store of unusedcubes and are placed on the board at locations chosen by the proxy. Inanother modified version 204, which is the one used by default unlessall players agree otherwise, there is no Board proxy and the Board isnot a quasi-player and hence does not own any game items. Only the cityand event cards are tradable in this version, except for a swap all 1730in which case the role cards and pawns are also tradable. Also, unlessagreed otherwise in advance Bejinx™ instructions taking 1736 or giving1734 an extra turn or losing a turn apply to pieces of a turn (one ofthe normal 4 actions, one of the normal two card draws, or the infectcities piece) instead of applying to the turn 1006 as a whole.Pandemic™-specific game modification instructions 800 in some examplesinclude one or more of: moving 1703/1705 epidemic cards in/out of play,and reshuffling the player card (cities, events) discard deck andpermitting it to be replayed instead of all players losing when theplayer draw pile is down to one or zero cards.

Patience/Solitaire Card Game.

In modifying Solitaire card games 102 that allow hidden (a.k.a.,face-down or downturned) cards 100, trading 1730 game items meansexchanging a hidden card for one that is not hidden, so each card takesthe other's position on the table, the one that was hidden becomes faceup, and the one previously face up becomes hidden. In Solitaire cardgames 204 that do not allow hidden cards, trading 1730 game items meansexchanging the table positions of any two cards 100. In Solitaire cardgames 204 that allow a waste or discard pile 1728, giving 1734 an itemmeans moving a played card into the waste or discard pile, and taking1736 a game item means pulling a card back out of the waste or discardpile to play it. In Solitaire card games 102 that do not allow a wasteor discard pile, taking an item and giving an item are null instructionsyou simply skip.

Peg Solitaire. Trading 1730 items can be done only by exchanging a pegwith an adjacent empty position, that is, by moving any peg to an openposition among the eight (or less on the board's edge) positions thatare next to the peg. Giving 1734 an item can be done only by filling ahole with a previously removed peg. Taking 1736 an item can be done onlyby removing a peg without moving any other peg. Treat all “restart aplayer” 1707 Bejinks™ instructions as null instructions you simplyignore. All other Bejinks™ instructions are followed 1108 immediately,regardless of whether they contain the word “later” 1712.

Pente®.

Individual stones are tradable by swapping their positions on the board100. Stones are also tradable when the white player switches to playblack instead, and vice versa. Taking 1736 a game item can be done,e.g., by removing one of your opponent's stones from the board. Giving1734 a game item can be done, e.g., by removing one of your own stonesfrom the board.

Pictionary®.

The board piece 100 that represents a team can be traded for the piecethat represents a different team, e.g., the blue team can become thegreen team and vice versa. Bejinks™ cards are held by a team rather thanbeing held by individual players, unless agreed otherwise before playbegins. Taking 1736/giving 1734 a game item is done only bytaking/giving a Bejinks™ card.

Poker.

Playing cards 100 that have not been dealt, cards that are held onlyduring a turn (not after it), and discarded playing cards are nottradable. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving atradable playing card.

Risk®.

Territory cards 100 and secret mission cards 100 are tradable one ormore at a time. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done bytaking/giving a tradable Risk® card or a Bejinks™ card. Armies aretradable only as a group, e.g., when the black player switches to playblue instead, and vice versa.

Rummikub®.

Tiles 100 that have not been dealt to any player are not tradable. Tilesheld 1718 by a player are tradable one or more at a time. Taking1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving a tradable tile.When you get an extra turn, it's better to draw 1701 a tile for thefirst turn and then see whether you can lay tiles down or must drawagain for the second turn.

Rummy.

Same as Hearts.

Scrabble®.

Tiles 100 that have not been dealt to any player are not tradable. Tilesheld 1718 by a player are tradable one or more at a time. Taking1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving a tradable tile.

Settlers of Catan®.

Resource cards 100 and development cards 100 held 1718 by a player aretradable one or more at a time. Colonies (settlements and cities) 100are tradable one or more at a time, but any roads 100 attached to acolony go along with that colony. In a trade, the type of colony(settlement versus city) and the number of roads attached to each colonycan be different, unless all players agree otherwise before play begins.The colored tokens 506 representing players are tradable only whentrading everything owned by a player.

Solitary Versions of Multiplayer Games.

For solitary versions of games that also have versions played by two ormore players, follow the rules for the multiplayer version but treat thebanker or dealer 106 as the other player when Bejinks™ instructionsrefer to another player. There are two exceptions: if there is no bankeror dealer in the multiplayer version, or if following the instructionwould effectively put you back at the start of the game, then treatBejinks™ instructions referring to another player as null instructionsthat you simply skip.

Sorry!®.

The positions held by a player's pawns 100 are tradable one or more at atime. Taking 1736 an item can be done by moving another player's pawnback to Start or by taking a Bejinks™ card. Giving 1734 an item can bedone by moving one of your own pawns back to Start or by giving aBejinks™ card. Regress/restart 1707 does not apply to pawns that are inthe safety zone or home.

Spades. Same as Hearts.

Stratego®.

The positions held by a player's pieces 100 are tradable one or more ata time; this includes Bombs unless both players agree before play 204begins that Bombs cannot be moved under any circumstances. Taking 1736an item can be done by capturing any opposing piece which could beattacked under normal Stratego® rules or by taking a Bejinks™ card(taker chooses). The value of the attacking piece and the captured piecemust be disclosed as in normal play, but when taking an item inBejinx™-enhanced play the attacking piece always wins regardless of whatit attacks. Giving 1734 an item can similarly be done by giving aBejinks™ card or by having one of your own pieces captured; the giverchooses whether to give a Bejinks™ card or give up a Startego® piece.

Ticket To Ride®.

Train cards 100 and destination cards 100 in a player's hand 1720 aretradable one or more at a time. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can bedone by taking/giving a tradable Ticket To Ride® card or a Bejinks™card. The colored train cars 100 and colored score-keeping pieces 100are tradable only when trading everything owned by a player. In a TicketTo Ride® game enhanced with Bejinx™ cards 602, a player can legally havezero destination cards 100.

Trivial Pursuit®.

The colored wedges 100 in the playing pieces 100 are tradable one ormore at a time. Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done bytaking/giving a tradable Trivial Pursuit® wedge or a Bejinks™ card. Theplaying pieces built to hold wedges are tradable only when tradingeverything owned by a player.

Twister®.

The positions held by a player 904 are tradable one or more at a time.For instance, one player might trade 1730 “right hand on yellow” foranother player's “left foot on blue” (that means right hand on anyyellow spot and left foot on any blue spot, unless players agreed beforeplay begins that only specific circles are tradable). Taking 1736/giving1734 an item can be done by taking/giving either a held position on theTwister® mat or a Bejinks™ card 602.

Yahtzee®.

The boxes 408, 100 with their score or lack-of-any-score are tradableone or more at a time. For instance, one player might trade 1730 a“Three-Of-A-Kind 16” for another player's “Full House 25”. In avariation, players can agree before play begins that only like boxes aretradable, e.g., a Three-Of-A-Kind box and its contents if any can onlybe traded for another Three-Of-A-Kind box and its contents if any.Taking 1736/giving 1734 an item can be done by taking/giving a score ina particular Yahtzee® box; scores coming into a box 408 replace whateverscore was there, and scores leaving a box leave the box empty.

Another View of Game Categories

The indentation hierarchies below each provide an alternative syntaxdescription 1778. The first indentation hierarchy is organized as gamecategory: instruction category: instruction. Time segments 1712 andchoosers (a.k.a. actors) are not considered below. The game category1769 for each card 602 may be manifest on card 602 faces. Below, someinstructions 800 belonging to more than one instruction category aremarked with an asterisk *. In this example, YJCW means “You Just Can'tWin”, DSY means “Don't Stop Yet”, SI means “Stop It!”, “Player” means anindividual person 904, “Team” means 1 or more Players working togetherand sharing game items, and “L/R” means the Player or Team to the leftor right. The text was written originally with a Player as the eventualintended reader, but is annotated with Figure reference numerals for thepresent disclosure. In alternative embodiments, any of the instructionsdescribed below as ones that could be taken out 1102 of the deck or elseignored in favor of a replacement card 602, are candidates for part of acomposite instruction 800 which combines them with a more universallyapplicable instruction such as a turn count {2010} instruction. Someexamples include instructions for use with 3+ Teams, With a Draw Pile,With Hidden Hands, With Scored Turns, and With a Hand Size.

Game Categories 1769 may identify Bejinx™ cards for use when playing:

With 2+ Players

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance the play of games 102 that have        at least two players taking turns. Leave these cards in your        Bejinx™ deck, along with other cards below which are also        suitable.

With 3+ Teams

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 the play of games that have        at least three teams taking turns. Each team includes at least        one player. To play with only two teams, either take 1102 these        3+ Teams cards out of the Bejinx™ deck before playing, or else        draw 1106 a replacement Bejinx™ card anytime you draw a 3+ Teams        card.

With a Draw Pile

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 the play of games that use        a draw pile 1724. Examples include Mahjong, Mille Bornes®,        Monopoly®, Pandemic™ board game, Rummikub®, Rummy, Scrabble®,        Ticket To Ride®, and many others. To play a game without any        draw pile, such as checkers, chess, or Stratego®, either take        1102 these Draw Pile cards out of the Bejinx™ deck before        playing, or else draw 1106 a replacement Bejinx™ card anytime        you draw a Draw Pile card. Some of these cards change 1727 the        number 1729 of items drawn from the original game's rules 104.

With Hidden Hands

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 the play of games that        allow or require players to keep items in their hand hidden from        other players. Examples include Battleship®, Clue®, Cribbage, Go        Fish, Mille Bornes®, Rummikub®, Rummy, Scrabble®, Stratego®,        Ticket To Ride®, and many others. To play a game without any        hidden hands, such as checkers, chess, go, Mancala, Monopoly®,        Othello®, Twister®, or Yahtzee®, either take 1102 these Hidden        Hands cards out of the Bejinx™ deck before playing, or else draw        1106 a replacement Bejinx™ card anytime you draw a Hidden Hands        card.

With Scored Turns

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 the play of games that give        players a score for each turn. Examples include Cribbage,        Scrabble®, Ticket To Ride®, Yahtzee®, and many others. To play a        game without keeping scores for each turn, such as checkers, go,        Jenga®, Monopoly®, Othello®, or Twister®, either take 1102 these        Scored Turns cards out of the Bejinx™ deck before playing, or        else draw 1106 a replacement Bejinx™ card anytime you draw a        Scored Turns card.

With a Hand Size

-   -   These cards 602 enhance 1706 the play of games that control the        size of a player's hand. Examples include Cribbage (4 cards),        Scrabble® (7 tiles), Ticket To Ride® (at least one destination        card), and many others. To play a game without controlling the        size of a player's hand, such as checkers, go, Jenga®,        Monopoly®, Othello®, or Twister®, either take 1102 these Hand        Size cards out of the Bejinx™ deck before playing, or else draw        1106 a replacement Bejinx™ card anytime you draw a Hand Size        card.

With Monopoly®

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 play of the Monopoly® game.

With Scrabble®

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 play of the Scrabble® game.

With <other well-known games>

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 enhance 1706 play of the <other        well-known game>.

Blanks

-   -   Several cards 602 are provided with a blank face 804 and a back        802 that matches the back 802 of the other Bejinx™ cards 602, so        you can create 1744 your own personal cards 602.

With Yoked Games {2004} (a.k.a. melded games, multigames)

-   -   These Bejinx™ cards 602 yoke 1731 two or more games together for        concurrent enhanced play. Other terms for “yoked” games may be        linked, joined, spliced, melded, welded, mixed, or others.    -   Any two or more Bejinx™-compatible games 102 can be yoked 1731        together, with any combination of players. For example, two        players could play each other modified Rummikub® and modified        Scrabble® at the same time, or three players could play modified        Monopoly® and modified Risk® simultaneously against each other,        or a parent could play modified Go Fish with one child while        playing modified checkers with a second child and also playing        modified Battleship® with a third child. A particular example        deck for multigaming is described above.    -   By permitting interactions between enhanced games, yoking can        have the effect of increasing complexity so that even        experienced gamers 904 are challenged by new versions 204 of        familiar games. Even if you are brilliant at Scrabble® and        Rummikub® individually, you will face new challenges when those        two games are yoked together and paired with Bejinx™ for        enhanced play. But this complexity is optional, so the game        enhancement 202 does not force it on players who don't want it.    -   By connecting games of different kinds, yoking 1731 has the        effect of helping players of different skill levels enjoy games        together. In the example above, the parent playing three yoked        games will not be bored, and each of the children will not be        frustrated by challenges beyond their individual abilities.    -   Some Yoked Game instructions 800 expressly apply to all of the        yoked games. Some impose a cost in one game for a benefit in        another game. Some do other things.    -   Aside from the instructions that are specifically for Yoked        Games, the other Bejinx™ instructions, such as those for playing        with 2+ Players, 3+ Teams, a Draw Pile, Hidden Hands, Scored        Turns, Monopoly®, Scrabble®, and so on apply in yoked game play        just as they would in playing a single Bejinx™-enhanced game,        with these changes:        -   Players decide 1102 in advance between single-use and            multi-use play. In single-use play, each Bejinx™ card 602            can be used only in a single game (though not necessarily            the one it was drawn in) unless the card itself says            otherwise. In multi-use play, each Bejinx™ card is applied            once to each of the yoked games that it makes sense in.            Under multi-use play in the example above, an “extra turn”            card 602 would give a player an extra turn in the Monopoly®            game and an extra turn in the Risk® game when those two            games are yoked 1731 together with Bejinx™ cards.        -   Your Bejinx™ cards are in one hand for all the yoked games            you are currently playing. A Bejinx™ card you draw 1106            during your turn in one yoked game is not limited to being            used in that game 204; it can be used on your turn in any            one (single-use play) or more (multi-use play) of the yoked            games you are a player in, if it makes sense in that game.            For example, under single-use play a “skip your turn now”            card 602 drawn by the parent in the enhanced Battleship®            game 204 could be applied to skip a turn instead in the            yoked checkers game. By contrast, a “raise one ship” card is            Battleship®-specific so it applies only in that game.        -   Same-game boards 100 are connected via yoking 1731, and            same-game hidden hands 100 are also connected via yoking            1731. If two or more instances of the same board game are            yoked together, then pieces can be moved between instance            boards as if all the instances' boards were a single larger            board. Rules 106 for movement, winning, and so on remain            otherwise the same. For example, you could move three queens            onto the same chess board when playing three yoked games of            Bejinx™-enhanced chess. Similarly, in yoked and enhanced            instances of the same Hidden Hand game, an item in a            player's hand 1720 can be moved between game instances at            the cost of one turn 1006. For example, you could move a            Rummikub® tile 100 from your hand 1720 in one Rummikub® game            to your hand in a yoked Rummikub® game, instead of laying            down a meld or drawing a tile.

The second indentation hierarchy, shown below, is also organized as gamecategory: instruction category: instruction, and annotated to match theFigures of the present disclosure. Time segments 1712 are not shown, butchoosers (a.k.a. actors) are stated expressly. The asterisk againdenotes instructions 800 that appear in more than one category. As withother examples provided herein, categorization of a given instruction800 may vary from one example to another, since categories may bedefined differently in different circumstances even though they happento use the same or similar wording as labels or names.

Any Game/Most Games/2+ Players: [this is an example of a game category1769]

Turn Count {2010} [this is an example of an instruction category 1716]

-   -   You take 2 turns [this is an example of an instruction 800]; You        take 3 turns; You take 4 turns; You skip your turn; Swap 2        Bejinx™ cards or take 1 extra turn instead*; Null cards or Charm        cards or other Sayings cards*; You discard this card and 1 other        Bejinx™ card or lose your turn*

Full Swap {2025}

-   -   Swap all your game items [for at most the duration of the        enhanced game]

Item Ownership {2024, 2022, 2006}

-   -   Swap 1 original game item each (2 items change owners); Swap 2        original game items each (4 items change owners); Swap 3        original game items each (6 items change owners); [variations        with who swaps items, and with who chooses the items]; Swap 2        Bejinx™ cards or take 1 extra turn instead*; Take 1/2 [one or        two] Bejinx™ card(s) from player to your L/R/any player; If        anyone has a YJCW card move it to yourself*; You discard this        card and 1 other Bejinx™ card or lose your turn*; L/R/any player        discards 1 Bejinx™ card [who chooses card]; You discard this        card and all your other Bejinx™ cards

Temporary Possession {2032}

-   -   Move/play 1 item of another player as that player could, without        winning

Winning Condition {2018}

-   -   Null Cards or Charm cards or other Sayings {2034} cards*; If        anyone has a YJCW card move it to yourself*; YJCW holder cannot        win [1 instance]; Stumbles [these cards 602 are ordered relative        to each other so that a winner is designated even if all players        have stumbled; if only 1 player has not stumbled then that        player wins, if more than 1 player have not stumbled than their        rank in the original game determines the ultimate winner]

Final Round {2014}

-   -   DSY, SI

Reveal-Hide/Private Info/Publication {2028}

-   -   Show 1 hidden Bejinx™ card to the player on your left̂ [/2] [if        have any/lose a turn]; Show 1 hidden Bejinx™ card to the player        on your right̂ [ditto]; Show 1 hidden Bejinx™ card to another        player̂ [ditto]

Time Jump {2030}

-   -   Regress 1 original game item of another player; Regress 1        original game item of your own; Restart 1 original game item of        another player; Restart 1 original game item of your own

3+ Players/3+ Teams: [another game category 1769]

Turn Count {2010}

-   -   Team on your left takes a turn, you do not; Team on your right        takes a turn, you do not; Team on your left takes 4 turns, you        lose your turn; Team on your right takes 4 turns, you lose your        turn̂ [alsô L/R 2,3 turns]; Another Team takes a turn, you do        not; Another Team takes 2 turns, you take none [alsô 3,4 turns];        Give L/R/ any other player your current turn; You take 1 Bejinx™        card from any team or lose your turn instead*; You take 1        Bejinx™ card from the team on your left or lose your turn*; You        take 1 Bejinx™ card from the team on your right or lose your        turn*̂; You give 1 other Bejinx™ card to any team or lose your        turn*; You give 1 other Bejinx™ card to the team on your left or        lose your turn*; You give 1 other Bejinx™ card to the team on        your right or lose your turn*̂; You discard 1 Bejinx™ card of any        other team or lose your turn*

Merge Team {2038}

-   -   Merge any two teams or lose your turn; Merge two other teams or        lose your turn; Merge left or lose your turn; Merge right or        lose your turn; You join the winning team!; Merge with the        winning team!

Turn Order {2012}

-   -   Turn order is this way now (counterclockwise icon); Turn order        is this way now (clockwise icon); Turn order is your choice        (both icons)

Full Swap {2025}

-   -   Every team moves 1 position right; Every team moves 1 position        left̂; Any two teams swap all game items; Swap all game items        with the team on your left; Swap all game items with the team on        your right̂

Item Ownership {2022, 2020}

You take 1 Bejinx™ card from any team or lose your turn*; You take 1Bejinx™ card from the team on your left or lose your turn*; You take 1Bejinx™ card from the team on your right or lose your turn*“; You give 1other Bejinx™ card to any team or lose your turn*; You give 1 otherBejinx™ card to the team on your left or lose your turn*; You give 1other Bejinx™ card to the team on your right or lose your turn*̂; Ifanyone has a YJCW card move it to some other team*; Everyone with a YJCWcard move it to the team to their left; Everyone with a YJCW card moveit to the team to their right“; You discard 1 Bejinx™ card of any otherteam or lose your turn*; Another team discards all of its Bejinx™ cards

Winning Condition {2018}

-   -   If anyone has a YJCW card move it to some other team*; YJCW        [additional instances beyond 1]; You may clone YJCW if you have        it

Time Jump {2030}

-   -   Regress 1 original game item of another team; Regress 1 original        game item of your own team; Regress 1 original game item of the        team on your left; Regress 1 original game item of the team on        your right̂; Restart 1 original game item of another team;        Restart 1 original game item of your own team; Restart 1        original game item of the team on your left; Restart 1 original        game item of the team on your right

Seating {2008}

-   -   Choose 2 players to trade seats—they carry their game items with        them; Trade seats with any other player—you each keep your own        game items

Hidden Hands: [Category 1769 of Games 102 with Items Having InformationPlayers Hide from Each Other]

Reveal-Hide/Private Info/Publication {2028}

-   -   Show 1 hidden game item to the team on your left [But also 3+        Players]; Show 1 hidden game item to the player to your left̂ [or        2+ games]; Show 1 hidden game item to the player to your right̂        [or 2+ games]; Show 2 hidden game items to the team on your        right [also 3+ Players]; Show 2 hidden game items to the player        on your right̂[or 2+ games]; Show 2 hidden game items to the        player on your left̂[or 2+ games]; [as above, with “another        player” instead of L/R]; [alternately, make all these pertain to        an original game item, and in basic deck do similar instructions        reciting hidden Bejinx™ card]

Monopoly®: [again, this designates a category 1769, for gamemodification cards/instructions 800 that are tailored for modifying playof a Monopoly® game; not all ̂ are explicitly marked]

Item Ownership {2020, 2022}

-   -   Here's the Deal/No Deal; You give 1 property card to any Team        you choose [or Player, so not 3+][/2/3][you choose/they choose];        You take 1 property card from any Team you choose [or Player, so        not 3+][/2/3] [you choose/they choose]; You [Team/Player̂ to your        R/L] take 1̂/2 cards from Community Chest/Chance; Team/Player̂ to        your R/L gives you/takes half their/your money; Bank        doubles/takes half your money; Bank takes 1/2̂/3̂ of your property        cards; Bank takes back up to 1/2/3 of your houses; Bank takes        back your /L/R/ any player's 1/2 largest bill(s); You take 1/2        largest bill(s) of L/R/ any player

In-Out-of-Play {2040}

-   -   All Chance/Community Chest cards taken out of play shuffled back        in; Top 6 Chance/Community Chest cards are taken out of play

Draw Pile: [from̂ e.g. Scrabble®, Dominion®]

Item Count {2026}

-   -   Draw 2 items instead of 1, then put 1 back in the draw pilê;        Draw 3 items instead of 1, then put 2 back in the draw pilê;        Draw 4 items instead of 1, then put 3 back in the draw pilê;

Reveal-Hide/Private Info/Publication {2028}

-   -   Turn 1/2/3/4 draw pile items face up, they remain up after your        turn

Each Turn Scored/Scored Turns: [from̂ e.g. Scrabble®]

Scoring {2016}

-   -   Double your score for this turn; Triple your score for this turn̂

Scrabble®: [this designates a category, namely, cards/instructionsspecialized for modifying the play of Scrabble® games; not all ̂ areexplicitly marked]

Item Placement {could be viewed as a distinct category 1716, or as anextra turn 2010 example}

-   -   Place a word anywhere on the board even if it does not connect        Time Jump {2030};

Remove any 1/2 word(s) from the board, tiles go to draw pile

-   -   Items at a Time/Hand Size: [from̂ e.g. Scrabble®]

Item Count {2002}

-   -   You are allowed 1 extra item in your hand at a timê; You are        allowed 2 extra items in your hand at a timê; You are only        allowed 1 item less than usual in your hand̂; You are only        allowed 2 items less than usual in your hand̂; [as above,        specifying as max or as min in hand at a time]

Yoked Games: ̂

Item Ownership {2020, 2022}

-   -   Give away 1 game item in each yoked game; Take 1 game item of        your choosing from each player in each game without winning that        game; Take 1 game item from each player in each game; they        choose the item

Turn Count {2010}

-   -   Give away 2 game items in one game, take an extra turn in any        other game* [variations on # items, # turns, give/take]

Hidden Hand {2028}

-   -   Reveal 4 hidden original game items in one game, swap all game        items in any other game*

Scoring {2016}

-   -   Double your score for this turn in one game, but lose your turn        in any other game

Winning Condition {2018}

-   -   Move any YJCW card to any other player in any yoked game;

Discard all YJCW cards in all yoked games; Move all YJCW cards in allgames to yourself, discard all but one of them

Final Round {2014}

-   -   This Stop It! Applies to all yoked games; any DSY from any game        will undo it

Temporary Possession {2032}

-   -   Each other player moves/plays 1 of your items in this game any        way that you could have (this might make you lose)

In/Out of Play {2040}

-   -   You choose up to two out-of-play or discarded (but not captured)        items in each game to return to play [e.g., Community Chest        cards taken out of play by a Bejinx™ card, Pandemic™ board game        epidemic or city cards taken out of play under normal rules,        Munchkin® monster cards taken out of play under normal rules] or        to a draw pile

Turn Order {2012}

-   -   Applies to players as a whole, unless agreed otherwise in        advance [in parent example above, default turn order is Parent,        Child1, Child2, Child3, repeat, as opposed to Parent, Child1,        Parent, Child2, Parent, Child3, repeat.]

Merge Team {2038}

-   -   Unless agreed otherwise in advance, merge may bring a new player        into a game as part of an existing team, e.g., in parent example        above, Child2 may join Child3 as a team against the parent

Jinx Card (a.k.a. Jinks Card or Jinx! Card)

Like a mirror, play this card to reflect 1775 any action 1735 (originalgame action or Bejinx™ action or other game modifier instructed action)directed at you back at the action originator 1737, or to cancel anyother Jinx card that is in play. It can be played now, later, or anytimeat all. For instance, if someone plays a card to take any of your cards,then you can play the Jinx card and take any of their cards instead.Similarly, if they try to take any of your pieces, then you can play theJinx card to take any of their pieces instead. In some cases, the Jinxcard reflects an original game action back at another player, e.g., inSorry® play you could send someone else back to start instead of beingsent back to start yourself. One embodiment is that playing a Jinx cardis a one-time action and another embodiment is that it is ongoing untilsomeone plays an anti-Jinx card against it, thereby breaking the Jinx orlifting the Jinx. Two Jinx cards played against each other cancel eachother out.

Suppose A plays a card to take B's turn in the original game. B plays aJinx card, which if left unchallenged would instead let B take A's turn.But now A plays a Jinx card, which cancel's B's Jinx card, and so A getsto take B's turn after all. You can also play your Jinx card on behalfof another player. Suppose A plays card against B. Then C can play aJinx card to reflect that action back against A, even if it is not C'sturn, because in this example Jinx cards can be played anytime at all.

Some Additional Observations

In some examples, as to instructions 800 that allow a player to drawBejinx™ cards and then discard items, any Bejinx™ cards drawn and notdiscarded that say “Now” must then be followed 1108 in that same turn.

In the game modification instructions 800, “turn” normally refers to anoriginal game turn. Drawing 1106 another game modification card 602 isnot part of a “turn” referenced on a game modification card unless thecard clearly states otherwise. For example, drawing 1106 a “take anextra turn” game modification card in chess means the player willdiscard 1726 that game modification card 602 and move two chess pieces100. It does not mean that the player will discard 1726 that gamemodification card 602, move one chess piece 100, draw 1106 another gamemodification card 602, and then move another chess piece 100.

One normal sequence of play is to either draw 1106 a game modificationcard from a draw pile 1724 of such cards 602 or else pull one or more(e.g., multiple sayings cards for an extra turn) game modification cards602 from one's hand 1720 and then follow the instructions on that cardor cards. Most cards 602 are discarded after being played, but a fewsuch as YJCW or No More Swaps remain placed 1777 in front of the playerto exert an effect for multiple turns. One can pull 1106 a sayings cardand play it with other sayings cards in the same turn, e.g., if thepulled card is the third Charm card needed in order to have enough Charmcards to redeem for an extra turn.

In some embodiments, some cards 602 are marked 808 as belonging to morethan one game category 1769. For example, some cards enhance play when3+ teams are playing a game with hidden hands, or when playing a gamesuch as cribbage that has both hidden hands and scored turns. All cards602 in this example belong to at least the 2+ Players category, so thatmarking only appears on the cards that have no requirements beyond 2+players. An alternate approach is to only mark the other categories;cards that require nothing beyond having at least two players would bearno game category marking, so far as the categories of this example areconcerned.

In some examples, game enhancement cards 602 (a.k.a. game modificationcards) include a difficulty level marking 808, a.k.a. a complexity ornon-intuitiveness level. For example, “take an extra turn” and “loseyour turn” cards are easy even for the youngest players to understandand perform, so they could be denoted level 1 cards. Final Round cardsare not quite that simple, but close, so they could be designated aslevel 2 cards. Swap all game item instructions are easy to understandbut can face emotional resistance in some players and can make play verychallenging after the items are swapped (e.g., memorizing all ship andpeg positions in Battleship® would be difficult but rewarding in caseall game items are swapped), so the swap all game items instruction (orthe card that bears it) would be level 3 in this example. Merge teamswould be level 4. Yoked game instructions would be level 5, or perhapseven a higher level. Other card categories or individual instructionscould be similarly assigned a difficulty level, which is conveyedvisually to players with the instruction text. For enhanced play with ayoung child 904, the level 2 and greater difficulty cards could beremoved from the deck and/or ignored in favor of drawing replacementcards when drawn. Adult gamers 904, by contrast, could leave highdifficulty cards in the deck to play. In yoked game play, even thelowest difficulty cards add complexity because they may be played in anyof the yoked games.

Some Further Examples

Further Example 1: A computer-readable storage medium 914 configuredwith data and with instructions 916 that when executed by at least oneprocessor causes the processor(s) to perform a process including thesteps of: presenting 1733 Do It™ cards 602, Bend A Game™ cards 602,Bejinx™ cards 602 and/or Bejinks™ cards 602 (namely, cards having thefunctionality described herein expressly or implicitly associated withthe mark in question herein, but not necessarily bearing that markoutside this disclosure); and modifying 1706 game play of a pairedoriginal game 102 in accordance with the cards 602 presented.

Further Example 2: The medium of further example 1, wherein the cards602 include game modification instructions 800 in at least three (orfour, or five, etc., up to and including at least all) of the followingcategories 1716 and/or 1769: Item Ownership, Full Swap, TemporaryPossession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, In/Out of Play, Turn Order, WinningCondition, Final Round, Merge Team, Seating, Item Count, Draw Pile,Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, 3+ Teams, and Yoked Gameinstructions.

Further example 3: The medium of further example 1, wherein the cards602 include game modification instructions 800 characterized by at leastone (or two, or three, and so on up to all) of the following timesegments 1712: Now, Now or later (i.e., in a subsequent turn to the turnin which the instruction was received by the team or player in question)during the original game, Later during the original game, Later anytime(during or after the original game), Anytime (i.e., now or later duringor after the original game), and After the original game.

Further Example 4: A computer system 902 including: a logical processor910; a memory 912 in operable communication with the logical processor;a deck 600 of game modification cards 602 residing in the memory 912 andhaving instructions 800 for modifying 1706 the play of any one or moreof these categories 1769 of original games 102: board games, card games,parlor games; and code 610 and/or 612 which interacts with the processorand memory to present 1733 game modification cards to multiple players904 and to modify 1706 at least one original game played by the playersin accordance with the cards presented.

Further Example 5: An article of manufacture including a deck 600 of DoIt™ cards 602, Bend A Game™ cards 602, or Bejinks™/Bejinx™ cards 602 orspinner 604, or another repository of game modification instructions 800for modifying 1706 the play of an original game, and wherein the samerepository applies to multiple games of different kinds 1769.

Further Example 6: The article of further example 5, including at leastone Null Card 602, Charm Card 602, or other Sayings 2034 Card 602substantially as shown and described herein. Two instructions are“substantially” the same when their meaning is the same with respect toplaying a game, e.g., they may have the same meaning expressed indifferent natural languages, expressed using different tools (softwarecontrol of display screen vs. printed paper vs. spoken words), and/orwith different ornamentation.

Further Example 7: The article of further example 5, including cards 602collectively explicitly bearing at least three of the followingwhen-playable designations 1712: Now, Later, Now or Later, Anytime (onyour turn), During the Original Game, Later but before the original gameends, After/During the Original Game, Anytime at All.

Further Example 8: A process including: drawing 1106 a game modificationinstruction 800 from a deck 600 including at least three (or four, five,etc. up to ten in these examples) of the following instructions 800:trade all game items with another player, change the possession of a YouJust Can't Win or functionally similar winning condition or caveat card,use another card to undo a You Just Can't Win or Stumbles orfunctionally similar winning condition card, use another card to cloneor avoid a You Just Can't Win or Stumbles or functionally similarwinning condition card, two players trade a game item with each other,restart a player, restart a player's item, regress an item, change turnorder in mid-game, take an original game item out of play in a mannernot stated in the original game's official rules, return a playeroriginal game item or other player asset to a bank in a manner notstated in the original game's official rules, transfer an original gameitem or other player asset between players in a manner not stated in theoriginal game's official rules, reassign player table positions in amanner not stated in the original game's official rules, merge playersand/or teams in a manner not stated in the original game's officialrules, skip an original game turn in a manner not stated in the originalgame's official rules, take one or more extra original game turns in amanner not stated in the original game's official rules, multiply anoriginal game cash holding or turn score or other player asset in amanner not stated in the original game's official rules, reveal hiddenoriginal game item content to a player in a manner not stated in theoriginal game's official rules, force a player to cash in an originalgame item in a manner not stated in the original game's official rules,individual player or entire team merges with winning team, everyplayer/team moves 1 position right/left but leaves all game items behindfor the successor to own, a Yoked Game instruction, a pattern-completiongame instruction; and then modifying 1706 game play by following 1108the game modification instruction.

Further Example 9: A process for generating 1756 game modificationinstructions, including at least one (or two, and so on, up to all) ofthe following: directly applying 1758 one or more existing game-agnosticinstructions 800 to at least one particular game at hand, as thesegame-agnostic instructions are applied to modify other original games;tailoring 1760 one or more game-agnostic instructions to one or moreparticular game items or kinds of game items of the at least oneoriginal game in question; adapting 1762 one or more game-agnosticinstructions to a particular role of the at least one original game inquestion; altering 1764 one or more rules that are specific to the atleast one original game in question; adding 1766 a paired complement1768 of an existing game modification instruction; identifying a gamecategory 1769 (Item Ownership, Full Swap, etc.) and then selecting 1771or formulating 1756 a game modification instruction which is in theidentified category; identifying a game modification instruction timesegment 1712 (Now, Later during original game, etc.) and then selecting1771 or formulating 1756 a game modification instruction 800 whichinstructs a player or team to perform an action during the identifiedtime segment.

Further Example 10: Game play equipment 202 including a card 602,spinner 604, or other apparatus implementing by written indicia ordisplay or spoken instruction or announcement or game state displayupdate or other perceptible means at least one of the following gameplay mechanisms 206: returning an item during the game to the locationand status the item had at the beginning of the game, instructing aplayer after the beginning of the game to return a game item to thelocation and status the item had at the beginning of the game, changingplayer turn order during the game, allowing a player of a game to changeplayer turn order during the game, having two players swap all gameitems after the beginning of the game, having three or more playersexchange all game items amongst themselves after the beginning of thegame so that each player takes over control and status of another of theplayer's items, merging two or more teams (which contain one or moreplayers) into fewer teams during them game, splitting a team during thegame to form two or more teams from that team, letting one player viewand use game items of another player for one turn during the game,letting one player take a turn for another player during the game,giving one player temporary control over all game items of anotherplayer during the game, any other game modification instructiondescribed herein.

As to the following further examples that recite a Jinx card and/or aJinx instruction, they also represent alternative further examples inthat one can replace the Jinx card/instruction with a differentcard/instruction, e.g., with any other instruction 800 identified by atleast one example herein, or with a card 602 of any category 1716 thatis discussed herein.

Further Example 11: A computer-readable storage medium 914 configuredwith data and with instructions 916 that when executed by at least oneprocessor causes the processor(s) to perform a process including:presenting 1733 a Jinx reflection 1775 card 602; and modifying 1706 gameplay of an original game in accordance with the Jinx card presented.

Further Example 12: A computer system 902 including: a logical processor910; a memory 912 in operable communication with the logical processor;a Jinx reflection 1775 game modification card 602 residing in the memoryand having at least one instruction 800 for modifying the play of anyone or more of these kinds 1769 of original games: board games, cardgames, parlor games; and code 610 and/or 612 which interacts with theprocessor and memory to present 1733 the Jinx game modification card tomultiple players 904 and to modify 1706 at least one original gameplayed by the players in accordance with the card presented.

Further Example 13: An article of manufacture including a deck 600 witha Jinx reflection 1775 card 602 or spinner 604, which modifies 1706 theplay of an original game, and wherein the same deck applies to multiplegames of different kinds 1769. Further example 14: A process including:drawing 1106 a Jinx reflection 1775 game modification instruction 800from a deck; and then modifying 1706 game play by following the gamemodification instruction. Further Example 15: Game play equipment 202including a Jinx card 602, spinner 604, or other apparatus implementingby written indicia or display or spoken words a Jinx instruction 800.Further example 16: A process including: drawing 1106 a Jinx instructionfrom a deck 600; and then playing 204 a game at least in part byfollowing 1108 the Jinx instruction.

Further Example 17: A computer-readable storage medium 914 configuredwith data and with instructions 916 that when executed by at least oneprocessor 110 causes the processor(s) to perform a process including thesteps of: presenting 1733 a Jinx card; and playing 204 a game at leastin part by following 1108 the Jinx instruction presented. Furtherexample 18: A game modification apparatus 202 for modifying play of anoriginal game which is played with original game equipment 100, theoriginal game equipment including at least one of the following: a gameboard, a die, a card bearing indicia which function as part of theoriginal game, a tile, a token, a game piece movable by a player of theoriginal game, the game modification apparatus including: a card 602;and rules 700 for modifying game play of an original game in accordancewith the card 602.

Further Example 19: A process including: drawing 1106 a Jinx instructionfrom a deck 600; and then playing a game 204 at least in part byfollowing 1108 the Jinx instruction. Further example 20: Acomputer-readable storage medium 914 configured with data and withinstructions 916 that when executed by at least one processor 110 causesthe processor(s) to perform a process including: presenting 1733 a Jinxinstruction 800; and playing a game at least in part by following 1108the Jinx instruction 800 presented.

As with all other examples herein which refer to modifying an originalgame, making further modification to an already-modified version of anoriginal game is also included in these further examples. That is,suppose one starts with an original game X, and modifies it by using afirst set of instructions 800 in a first deck 600; that would constitutemodification 1706. Now suppose one further changes the modified game,e.g., by changing 1772 the set of instructions 800 in the deck 800; thatwould also constitute modification 1706. In other words, it is notnecessary to start each time with nothing but an original game 102 whenmodifying play as taught herein; it is sufficient if an original game isat least part of what one modifies play.

CONCLUSION

Although particular examples are expressly described herein asprocesses, as configured media, or as systems, it will be appreciatedthat discussion of one type of example also generally extends to otherexample types. For instance, the descriptions of processes also helpdescribe configured media, and help describe the technical effects andoperation of systems and manufactures. It does not follow thatlimitations from one example are necessarily read into another. Inparticular, processes are not necessarily limited to the data structuresand arrangements presented while discussing systems or manufactures suchas configured memories.

Reference herein to an example having some feature X and referenceelsewhere herein to an example having some feature Y does not excludefrom this disclosure examples which have both feature X and feature Y,unless such exclusion is expressly stated herein. The term “example” ismerely used herein as a more convenient form of “process, system,article of manufacture, configured computer readable medium, and/orother example of the teachings herein as applied in a manner consistentwith applicable law.” Accordingly, a given “example” may include anycombination of features disclosed herein, provided the example isconsistent with at least one claim.

Not every item stated need be present in every example. Although somepossibilities are illustrated here by specific examples, examples maydepart from these examples. For instance, specific technical effects ortechnical features of an example may be omitted, renamed, groupeddifferently, repeated, instantiated in hardware and/or softwaredifferently, or be a mix of effects or features appearing in two or moreof the examples. Functionality shown at one location may also beprovided at a different location in some examples; one of skillrecognizes that functionality modules can be defined in various ways ina given implementation without necessarily omitting desired technicaleffects from the collection of interacting modules viewed as a whole.

As used herein, terms such as “a” and “the” are inclusive of one or moreof the indicated item or step. In particular, in the claims a referenceto an item generally means at least one such item is present and areference to a step means at least one instance of the step isperformed.

Headings are for convenience only; information on a given topic may befound outside the section whose heading indicates that topic. Thisdocument's headings are not intended to provide a strict classificationof features into example/embodiment versus non-example/non-embodimentfeature classes.

All claims as filed are part of the specification.

An “embodiment” herein is an example. Embodiments may freely share orborrow aspects to create other embodiments (provided the result isoperable), even if a resulting aspect combination is not explicitlydescribed per se herein. Requiring each and every permitted combinationto be explicitly described is unnecessary for one of skill in the art,and would be contrary to policies which recognize that patentspecifications are written for readers who are skilled in the art.Formal combinatorial calculations and informal common intuitionregarding the number of possible combinations arising from even a smallnumber of combinable features will also indicate that a large number ofaspect combinations exist for the aspects described herein. Accordingly,requiring an explicit recitation of each and every combination would becontrary to policies calling for patent specifications to be concise.

While exemplary examples have been described above, it will be apparentto those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications can bemade without departing from the principles and concepts set forth in theclaims, and that such modifications need not encompass an entireabstract concept. Although the subject matter is described in languagespecific to structural features and/or procedural acts, it is to beunderstood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific technical features or acts describedabove the claims. It is not necessary for every means or aspect ortechnical effect identified in a given definition or example to bepresent or to be utilized in every example. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts and effects described are disclosed as examples forconsideration when implementing the claims.

All changes which fall short of enveloping an entire abstract idea butcome within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to beembraced within their scope to the full extent permitted by law.

What is claimed is:
 1. A deck comprising: at least six cards, each cardembodying at least one game modification instruction, the cards beingcollectively functional via the game modification instructions toprovide a modified game play experience by modifying game play of eachof a plurality of games that includes a checkers game, a chess game, aChinese checkers game, a tile game, and a dice game; wherein the gamemodification instructions collectively modify functionality of each ofthe original games by adding at least two of the following game playmechanisms which are not present in the unmodified original game: duringgame play returning an item of original game equipment to a location anda status which the item had at the beginning of game play; merging twoteams into one team during game play, each team containing at least oneplayer before the merging occurs; letting one player view and use itemsof original game equipment of another player for one turn during gameplay; changing player turn order during game play; during game playhaving two players swap all items of original game equipment which theypossess or control; letting one player take a turn in the original gamein place of another player's turn; taking an item of original gameequipment out of play; preventing a player from being an ultimate winnerof modified game play even though the player won the original game;limiting game play to a final round prior to determination of a winnerin the original game; one player disclosing a hidden item of originalgame equipment to at least one other player; players trading seatswithout also exchanging possession or control of items of original gameequipment; allowing a player to hold in their hand at last one extraitem of original game equipment; or allowing a player to draw at leastone extra item of original game equipment from a draw pile. 2-5.(canceled)
 6. The deck of claim 1, wherein the cards collectively modifyfunctionality of original game equipment of an original board game byadding at least four game play mechanisms that are not present in theoriginal board game, and wherein the original board game equipmentincludes a token for each player and a set of cards bearing indiciawhich function to direct player actions during game play.
 7. The deck ofclaim 1, wherein the cards collectively embody game modificationinstructions in at least three of the following categories: ItemOwnership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump, TurnOrder, Winning Condition, Final Round, Item Count, Draw Pile, HiddenHand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, or Sayings Card instructions.
 8. The deckof claim 1, wherein the game modification instructions modifyfunctionality of original game equipment by adding at least one of thefollowing game play mechanisms which are not present in the unmodifiedoriginal game: merging two teams into one team during game play, eachteam containing at least one player before the merging occurs; lettingone player view and use items of original game equipment of anotherplayer for one turn during game play; during game play having twoplayers swap all items of original game equipment which they possess orcontrol; preventing a player from being an ultimate winner of modifiedgame play even though the player won the original game; or playerstrading seats without also exchanging possession or control of items oforiginal game equipment.
 9. The deck of claim 1, wherein the gamemodification instructions which modify functionality of the originalgame equipment de-se by adding at least one of the following game playmechanisms which are not present in the unmodified original game: duringgame play returning an item of original game equipment to a location anda status which the item had at the beginning of game play; letting oneplayer take a turn in the original game in place of another player'sturn; taking an item of original game equipment out of play; or limitinggame play to a final round prior to determination of a winner in theoriginal game.
 10. A deck comprising: at least eighteen cards, each cardembodying at least one game modification instruction, the cards beingcollectively functional via the game modification instructions toprovide a modified game play experience by modifying game play of eachof a plurality of original games; wherein the plurality of originalgames includes a checkers game, a chess game, a Chinese checkers game, adice game, and a multiplayer property trading game having original gameequipment which includes a board with spaces marked with property namesand also includes dice and play money bills and property title cards andplayer tokens and event cards; wherein the game modificationinstructions collectively modify functionality by adding at least fourof the following game play mechanisms which are not present in theunmodified original game: during game play returning an item of originalgame equipment to a location and a status which the item had at thebeginning of game play; merging two teams into one team during gameplay, each team containing at least one player before the mergingoccurs; letting one player view and use items of original game equipmentof another player for one turn during game play; changing player turnorder during game play; during game play having two players swap allitems of original game equipment which they possess or control; lettingone player take a turn in the original game in place of another player'sturn; taking an item of original game equipment out of play; preventinga player from being an ultimate winner of modified game play even thoughthe player won the original game; limiting game play to a final roundprior to determination of a winner in the original game; one playerdisclosing a hidden item of original game equipment to at least oneother player; players trading seats without also exchanging possessionor control of items of original game equipment; reflecting an action byan action originator back at the action originator; allowing a player tohold in their hand at last one extra item of original game equipment; orallowing a player to draw at least one extra item of original gameequipment from a draw pile.
 11. The deck of claim 10, wherein gamemodification instructions modify functionality by adding at least fourgame play mechanisms that are not present in the original dice game. 12.The deck of claim 10, wherein the cards collectively embody gamemodification instructions in at least four of the following categories:Item Ownership, Full Swap, Temporary Possession, Reveal/Hide, Time Jump,In/Out of Play, Turn Order, Winning Condition, Final Round, Merge Team,Seating, Item Count, Draw Pile, Hidden Hand, Hand Size, Scored Turns, 3+Teams, or Yoked Game instructions.
 13. The deck of claim 10, whereingame modification instructions are collectively characterized by atleast two of the following time segments: Now, Later, or Anytime. 14.The deck of claim 10, wherein game modification instructions modifyfunctionality by adding at least one of the following game playmechanisms which are not present in the unmodified original game:changing player turn order during game play; letting a player take anextra turn in the original game; one player disclosing a hidden item oforiginal game equipment to at least one other player; allowing a playerto hold in their hand at last one extra item of original game equipment;or allowing a player to draw at least one extra item of original gameequipment from a draw pile.
 15. The deck of claim 10, wherein a gamemodification instruction identifies an item of original game equipmentwhich is part of the multiplayer property trading game's equipment andis not part of the original game equipment of any of the other listedoriginal games. 16-20. (canceled)